


Love-Stuck

by Couyfish, Threshie



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Background Case, BeingCouy, Dean In Love, Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Flustered Sam Winchester, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Love Spell, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Sam in Love, Sastiel - Freeform, Team Free Will, Threshie, Truth Spells, Unrequited Love, WinCasWin, Witch Sam, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-06 12:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10334549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Couyfish/pseuds/Couyfish, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Threshie/pseuds/Threshie
Summary: Do Dean and Cas love each other? Sam thinks so — and an honesty spell might just convince them to admit it to each other.





	1. Honesty

It all began in a diner. It was like any other diner that the brothers had visited over the years — except that there was a BOGO going on greasy hamburgers. After spending the night burning the bodies of some lower rung vampires, the hot coffee and cheap food was just what the Winchesters needed.

Sam was busy typing away on his laptop, pausing often to sip on his third — or was it fourth? — cup of coffee.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," the older Winchester said, as the waiter sat a plate of double burgers down on the table. He peeked under one of the buns and gave a little approving whistle, like the last two rounds of burgers hadn't been made exactly the same. "Look at this, Sammy. This is a work of art right here. Ooh — they put on extra pickles!"

The waiter shook his head in disbelief and retreated to the kitchen. 

Sammy glanced at the burger, then Dean — then went back to his laptop. After a second, he closed it suddenly and took a long drink from his coffee. When he finished that, he slowly rotated it in his hands. He looked back up at his brother and cleared his throat.

…Then promptly took another sip from his coffee to finish it off. Again, he opened his mouth to speak — but thought better of it, and just reached for the coffee carafe.

The fidgeting didn't really catch Dean's attention, but the throat clearing did. He sat up, blinking. 

"What?"

"Nothing." Sam shook his head and poured himself more coffee. "It's nothing. We should probably get going. How many more of those are you gonna eat?" He eyed the two new burgers with a frown, sipping his coffee yet again.

Dean glanced down at the burgers, then back up at him. He smiled brightly and ignored the question.

"What're you working on? We just finished up this case."

"Dean. We did." Sam leaned forward and lowered his voice. "They're both dead. Case closed." The tall man glanced around the busy diner then looked at his brother with a sudden stern expression. "There's something else — but we can't talk here."

"Ah," Dean said knowingly, even though his expression said he didn't know what Sam was referring to. At all. "Sure, okay. If I stick around here they'll run out of bacon anyway."

He waved the waiter over to get the check.

Sam actually looked surprised at that, and was more than happy to pay the check. He wasted no time in throwing his coat back on and shoving his laptop under his arm. Whatever he wanted to talk about seemed urgent.

A moment later, Dean hugged the brown bag the restaurant had packed his takeout burgers in, stepping past his brother toward the door. He made a beeline for the car. Sam seemed way too antsy not to follow, so why wait? 

They could always talk in the car. Having a direction to drive in was nice, but not always necessary.

Sam followed him, turning up his collar against the dreary weather. The sky looked dark and foreboding. He hurried to hop into the car, strapping himself in and half throwing his laptop into the back seat.

Dean, who had just gotten in and shut the driver side door, leaned to look over the back seat, raising his eyebrows. 

"Dude. You get mad if I TYPE too hard on that thing," he said, pointing at the poor laptop. It was leaned up on edge against the back seat where it had been tossed.

His little brother turned to check on it, cringing. He leaned back and adjusted it almost lovingly to lay flat. Then he was looking at Dean expectantly. 

“Well?” Sam asked after a moment. “Let’s go.” He turned to face forward and waited for Dean to start the Impala.

His brother was looking at him now instead of the computer, brows furrowed dubiously. 

"Got a destination in mind, Usain?" He dug the car keys out of his pocket, shaking his head.

“The nearest motel? I thought you said you wanted to close the case,” Sam accused. He looked at Dean and shrugged. “We ganked the bad guys, we ate horrible food — let’s go sleep it off.”

It was true that they hadn’t really slept last night. Hell, all they had had time for was a quick nap in the car. Maybe a motel wasn’t a bad idea.

Sam glanced at him sideways. Dean knew that look. He was trying to judge if Dean had taken the bait or not. His brother yawned suddenly, emphasizing it with a fake stretch. 

“Man. I’m beat.”

Dean looked at him for a long, suspicious moment, then crossed his arms. 

"YOU didn't eat anything, unless a whole pot of coffee counts. You don't sleep after a whole pot of coffee, Sam."

“I had…I’m not hungry.” Sammy chuckled nervously. “Come on, Dean. You have to be tired too.” He patted the Impala’s dash. “Let’s go. Come on.” He looked over at Dean again and smiled tightly.

Dean wasn't fooled, but whatever was going on with his brother, apparently he didn't want to talk about it. Right after saying they needed to talk. Right.

"Whatever," he muttered, starting the car and backing them out of the parking lot. "You said we need to talk. We can't talk in the car, I guess?"

“Uhhhhhh.” Sam said slowly, placing his hands stiffly on his knees. “I just don’t…” He trailed off into a mumble as he shifted to look out the window. “…Cas and stuff.”

Dean pulled the car around the corner to the motel on the other end of the block, glancing at his brother. 

"What stuff about Cas? He's got nothing to do with vampires, he's off doing angel stuff." He assumed, anyway. They hadn't heard from Castiel in about a week.

“Right.” Sam said shortly. “I’ll get the room.” He opened the door and hopped out.

Dean turned off the car and sat there for a few minutes, trying to decide what to think. So, whatever was bothering Sam had to do with Cas. What about Cas? Was that what he'd been typing about?

The brunette turned and peeked back at the laptop Sam had forgotten in the back seat. Hmm.

* * *

“Dean.” A hand shook Dean out of his cheeseburger inflicted nap. “Hey.” It was Sam. He shook Dean’s shoulder again. “I got breakfast — well, dinner I guess.” There was the crinkling sound of a bag. “It’s French toast. I guess that’s not helping with the jet lag.” He mumbled more to himself than Dean. It was followed by a sigh.

"French toast," Dean mumbled, not all awake yet and just parroting whatever he heard. He squinted up at his brother, then slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "That's nice. Did you say it's dinner time?" 

Memories of the password protection on Sam's laptop were drifting through his mind, and he sat up, frowning. He'd crashed after getting to the room. It would have seemed suspicious if he hadn't eaten that many burgers. Who knew what Sam had been up to while he was out, though...

Sam shoved a little fast food breakfast box at him.

“So.” He sat down on the other bed and laced his finger together. He nodded and bit his lip.

Dean opened the takeout box and poked at the contents. It looked like French toast sticks with powdered sugar. He took a big bite out of one and looked at Sam expectantly, chewing. 

"So..."

“I…need you to do something for me.” Sam turned and reached off the other side of his bed and presented Dean with…

A pair of red roses.

“And I need you to not ask questions,” he added with a tight smile.

Dean sat up and blinked at the roses, shooting Sam a dubious look. 

"For me? Gee, I didn't know you cared."

He paused, and the comments from earlier about Castiel sank in. "Wait..."

“Just. Don’t. Shh.” Sam moved to sit next to Dean, pulling a knife from his pocket. “I can’t do this for…reasons. So I need you to. Okay? Okay.” He reached and carefully took Dean’s wrist, rotating his palm up. 

Not surprisingly, his brother scooted backward away from him, tugging his arm along with. 

"WHOA, hold up! If you're gonna use my blood in something, I damn well want to know what!" 

“It’s just a simple spell I need to try out. It won’t hurt you and it won’t kill anybody,” Sam said confidently, holding a hand out toward Dean again. “It’s supposed to make someone be honest to you. I thought it might be handy.”

Dean looked at him warily, like he might make a grab for his hand again. Lulling a guy into a false sense of security with French toast first was just low.

"Who're you using it on? Me? You could just ask, jeez."

“You? No.” Sam leaned and took his arm again. “I’m going to try it on Cas,” he added quickly, holding the little knife at the ready.

Dean frowned at him, but didn't yank his arm away. 

"You could just ask him, too. It might not even work on an angel." What the hell was so important to get a straight answer out of Cas for, anyway?

His gaze moved to the two roses. "..."

“Sorry.” Sam made a tiny cut on the inside of Dean’s index finger. He discarded the knife and picked up one of the twin roses. “I need you to say the spell.”

Dean was pretty sure he looked more worried than dubious now. 

"What's going on, Sammy? You think Cas won't notice if you put some spell on him?"

“Not this one. Repeat after me: _Amor revelatus mihi est ad te._ ” Sam looked at him as he spoke slowly. “Go.” He ran the rose through the small trail of blood on Dean’s hand.

Dean frowned at him. After a moment, he sighed and echoed the words. 

" _Amor revelatus mihi est ad te._ Wait, isn't _'amor'_..."

" _Sed si verum est. Afferte cor unum,_ ” Sam continued firmly. He placed the first rose aside and did the same motion with the second. 

Dean sighed loudly again. Apparently, he wasn't going to get any explanation. What the hell, they were already halfway through whatever this was. Wasn't like Sam would do anything horrible and dangerous with his blood...right?

" _Sed si verum est. Afferte cor unum,_ " he repeated dutifully.

“ _Facit vastum amore perit._ ” Sam finished, picking up both roses carefully. He had gotten blood on his hands too — which just made the whole damn thing that much creepier.

" _Facit vastum amore perit,_ " Dean said, watching him. They'd encountered a lot of spells over the years, but he could honestly say he'd never seen anything like this one.

Honestly. Haha.

Sam cleared his throat.

“Now comes the weird part.” He held both roses up to Dean’s chin. “You have to kiss them. Gently,” he added with a cringe. “Please don’t comment — just kiss them.” 

Kiss them. Two red roses. For an honesty spell. Uh-huh. 

Dean decided closing his eyes was better than awkwardly watching Sam watch him kiss flowers. He shut his eyes and pressed a soft kiss to each of the roses, then turned and stood up, stepping away from the bed. 

"There you go. Is that it?" He asked over his shoulder, crossing his arms and frowning at the wall unhappily. It felt a little too much like betraying Cas, casting some spell on him without him knowing about it. This sure as hell didn't seem like an "honesty spell," either.

“Dean, it’s not going to hurt him — I promise.” Sam told him. He got up, too, but turned and tucked one of the roses under Dean’s pillow. Then he hurried over and put the second one under his own pillow. 

Wait a minute…

He went to wash his hands quickly, then came back over to Dean and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Okay.” He squeezed his eyes shut.

Dean had glanced back when he heard the footsteps, and just barely caught the roses being put underneath the pillows. He had turned around by the time Sam returned, and was standing there with his arms crossed, back to dubious.

"Now what?"

“Hey Cas. Um, it’s been awhile and we, uh, we’re just wondering if you’re doing okay. I bought some extra French toast for you,” Sam prayed aloud. He seemed very focused on his task.

Dean blinked. Oh. 

Figured a spell for Cas would need Cas around for it. He waited a moment, wondering if the angel would show up without him praying as well. Sam seemed pretty focused, there.

His little brother opened one eye and peeked around the room. With a sigh, he shook his head.

“You’re going to have to do it. He never listens to me. Unless it’s about you,” Sam added a little bitterly. He headed off into the bathroom, but came right back with the first aid kit in hand.

Reminded that his hand was bleeding a bit, Dean glanced down at it, distracted. Cas had shown up when Sam prayed for him a few times...at least, he was pretty sure. Did he notice the spell already?

He turned and sat on the bed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

"Cas, you out there? We need to talk. If you're hearing this, come on down." 

He was positive he hadn't been focusing nearly as hard as Sam did a minute ago, but the familiar rustle of feathers told him the angel must have heard. He quickly opened his eyes, looking around.

“Cas,” he heard Sam say half-heartedly. “That was fast.” He took a seat beside Dean and unzipped the first aid kit. “The French toast is on the table.”

"I heard both of you calling." Dean turned as Castiel stepped closer to him and Sam. The angel only glanced at the table once, and had the usual solemn face on. "What do we have to discuss?" 

He was probably referring to Dean's prayer, but addressed Sam.

Sam finished patching up Dean and got up. He paced over to the other bed, gesturing widely over it with a hand.

“Could you lay on this bed?” He turned to look at Cas hopefully without adding any kind of explanation. “Just for a few minutes.”

The angel gave him a curious look, tilting his head. 

"I could... Why?"

Dean was pretty sure he wasn't going to get an explanation, either.

“I’m testing something — please.” Sam put a hand on Cas’s shoulder in an attempt to guide him towards the bed. “It’ll just take a few minutes.”

Dean stood and stepped over, too. Cas glanced at him, then back to Sam. 

"Don't we need to talk?"

"Yeah, part of it is this test...thing," Dean explained, not really explaining anything at all. He waved at the bed, sighing. "Just go lay down, pretend we're shrinks or something."

He was pretty sure Cas had no idea what a shrink even was, but the angel still stepped over and lay down on the bed since they were both so insistent about it. 

Sam carefully adjusted the pillow under Cas’s head and then stood back to watch him. 

“So, I need you to be honest — do you like pie?”

Cas looked up at the ceiling calmly, and seemed unfazed by the random question. 

"Yes. Pie is good. Dean likes pie."

Dean shook his head. Did Cas only like pie because he did? Then again, what kind of person wouldn't like pie...?

“What about the Impala? Do you like her?” Sam nodded approvingly, pacing alongside the bed.

Cas blinked, almost looking sleepy. 

"Well, yes." 

Dean sat on the edge of his own bed, watching them. If it really was a truth spell at work, then he was very curious what question Sam actually wanted to ask.

“What about my brother? Do you like Dean?” Sam asked, pausing at the foot of the bed.

"Of course," Cas said easily, without a second thought. Dean had to admit, it was nice to hear he didn't hesitate. 

Sam nodded, licking his lips nervously. He paced back along the bed and took a breath. 

“Do you love him?”


	2. Blog Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Sam love Cas? Dean's starting to think so.

Dean hopped to his feet, about to protest, but the truth spell seemed pretty effective — Cas spoke before he could say anything. 

"I don't know," he admitted, sounding kind of sad about it. 

“You don’t know?” Sam frowned at his answer, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well. I guess the spell didn’t work.” He cringed as he seemed to realize that he just admitted that to Cas. Sammy rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “Not…that I was trying to put a spell on you,” he added weakly.

The angel blinked, but Dean cut him off before he could comment.

"How about Sam? Do you like Sam?" He got to his feet and came over beside the other bed, crossing his arms.

“What? No! No, it didn’t work,” Sam cut in, grabbing Cas’s arm and hauling him off of the bed. “It was just between you two. That’s what the blood was for,” he explained quickly, leaning to pull the rose out from under the pillow. As his hand slid under it he frowned. “What…” He flipped the pillow over — but the rose was gone.

Castiel, he realized, was holding the rose. He directed a small frown up at Sam and offered it back to him.

"Yes, of course I like Sam," he answered Dean finally, but still stared at Sam as he spoke. "What else do you want to know?"

“We’re good. I-I think Dean had to ask you.” If Dean didn’t know better, he could have sworn that he saw Sam’s cheeks darken as he took the rose back. He cleared his throat and went to grab the other from under Dean’s pillow. “That’s all I needed — I can’t tell if the spell worked or not, so I’ll take if off my list. Don’t forget your French toast.”

Cas looked at the French toast like maybe it was improper to leave it, but then turned back to Sam seriously. 

"What kind of spell? Perhaps it doesn't work on angels."

Maybe it wasn't the angel's reaction Sam was trying to see, Dean thought, annoyed. 

Still, he said dismissively, "Truth spell, Cas. It's fine."

“It was pretty old school, so I figured it was worth a shot. I thought that if we could get people — demons, angels or humans — to tell us what we need without being captured, it’d be useful.” Sam smiled a bit and shrugged. “I didn’t have anyone else to test it on.”

Cas was amazingly calm about somebody trying some random truth spell on him. Dean would have been pissed, but the angel was actually smiling at Sam now. What the hell? Maybe his head was still affected by the bloody roses...

"I see. You couldn't tell me about a truth spell or it would affect my answers." He paused, looking down at the roses again. "...How do you know it didn't work?"

“You j-just…don’t seem to be…affected.” Sam managed slowly. He gave a shrug and stepped around Dean to throw the roses in the sink. He reached for the garbage disposal, but stopped short. Then he turned and leaned on the counter, cringing. “Uh. Yeah. We’re good. You probably have angel stuff to do, so…” Sam looked at Dean. His expression read something along the line of ‘I just did something horrible — I’m sorry.’

Dean gave him a shrug and a 'yep' kind of nod. His brother was probably hoping he'd tell Cas to go away, but this was too interesting to end that way. Sam was looking a little flustered, and his questions sure seemed focused on relationships. 

If he was trying to match Dean and Cas up, this was about the least subtle way to try that.

Cas, meanwhile, looked a little bothered by all of this. He placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and looked at him earnestly. 

"Sam. Do you think I don't like you and Dean?"

Sammy stared at Cas and swallowed. 

“Of course not.” He said nervously, shrinking away from him. Sam circled the angel to take cover on the other side of his brother. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he seemed to be trying to communicate psychically to Dean. At least that’s what the string of weird faces probably meant. It wasn’t like he could whisper — Cas could hear him. At long last he just mouthed ‘we need to talk’ to Dean.

"Cas." Dean turned abruptly to the angel, who was looking after Sam sadly, and reached to pat one of his shoulders. "C'mere a sec..."

Cas glanced at Sam again one more time as Dean steered him away across the room. 

"He's on a serious coffee high, man," Dean stage whispered to the angel, like this was very important business. "Don't take anything he says too personal right now — his thoughts are pinging off of each other like pool balls." He waved his free hand to illustrate. 

Very seriously, Cas glanced from him to Sam and nodded. "I see."

Sam watched them, eyebrows lowering into a frown. But he played along. 

“Sorry. I drank the entire pot. Research,” he said with a shrug. He glanced at Cas and then back at Dean. “I should get back to that actually.” Spinning on his heel, he went to sit down at the scrappy little table. He pulled the laptop open and started typing — way too fast. Dean seriously doubted he was actually doing anything. Sam put on a very serious expression and squinted at the screen, nodding slowly.

Dean and Cas stood there and watched this for a long moment. Finally, the angel glanced at him sidelong and asked quietly, "Do you need my help with any more research?"

Pleased with that reaction, Dean smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

"Not right now, nope. If we need you again, can we call ya?"

"Of course," Cas said promptly, glancing at Sam again. Frowning slightly, he turned back to Dean and nodded. And then there was the rustle of feathers, and he was gone.

Sam deflated with a heavy sigh, but he didn’t comment. He shook his head and starting typing on his laptop for real. 

Dean ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. 

"Okay...that was shady as hell. What did we just ATTEMPT to cast on Cas? And don't tell me it was a 'truth spell'," he grumbled, stepping over closer to where his brother sat. "He's not stupid."

“Hm?” Sam looked up at him like a deer — moose? — in the headlights. He turned his face determinedly back to his research. “It WAS a truth spell.”

Dean scowled at him, crossing his arms. 

"Sure. I'll bet. So if I just Google _'amor revelatus mihi est ad te'_..." He dug in his pocket for his phone.

“Wait!” Sam jumped to his feet, flinging the empty coffee cup off of the table as he reached for Dean’s phone. “Okay, okay! It was a love spell! I just wanted to see if it worked, and I didn’t want to try it on myself,” he admitted unhappily. “I found it on this creepy website, and I have a feeling that the owner might actually be a witch.”

"A lov--!" Dean practically dropped his phone, incredulous. "What, so it's okay to test it out on Cas?!" No wonder blood had been involved. Witches...ugh. 

“I couldn’t test it on myself or I wouldn’t be able to see the results, or to UNDO it if it did work. Plus Cas is…” Sam shrugged a little as he searched for the right word. “Convenient.” He sat back down and poked at the laptop’s keyboard. “But as far as I can tell, I royally messed it up anyways.” With a sigh, he propped his chin on his hand.

"Or I did," Dean pointed out, still irked. "Knowing what the hell I was doing might've helped." He shook his head, thinking back on Cas's easy answers to the questions. "...What exactly was the goal, here, Sammy? A love spell's not the real thing, it's like getting high."

He assumed. He'd never actually been hit with a love spell, actually — that would be Sam.

“Well.” Sam started, closing the laptop slowly. He drummed his fingers on the top of it as he thought for a moment, then glanced up at his brother. “It really IS a kind of truth spell. It doesn’t make feelings of love — it compels people to confess if they have any. I just thought with how Cas is around you that…Never mind.” He got up and paced back over to pick the roses out of the sink. “I think the part I messed up was when I said the spell. It should have just been you. I think it sort of worked on both of us. Plus there’s the blood thing.” 

"Yeah...but WHY?" Dean stared at him, blinking. "This wasn't just some test drive — you were hoping it would work. Why the hell would you WANT me to hook up with Cas? That's...weird!" He waved his hands for emphasis. 

Okay, so Cas DID hang around him a lot. And show up when he prayed for him, pretty much instantly. And follow him around like a lost puppy, a lot of the time. But that wasn't love, that was...something else. Right?

Great, now he wasn't so sure. 

Sam gave him a strange look and continued his explanation, holding up the two roses to show Dean.

“We’re brothers. Our blood is pretty much the same — I have a feeling that when I got your blood on my hands, it counted for both of us. Since the spell was only made to work on one person at a time, it failed. I hope.” He added the last with a thoughtful frown. “It said one seeker.”

Dean looked at him flatly. 

"You hope?"

They could BOTH be affected by this thing and not even know it? Great...

“If it worked, Cas would have felt compelled to tell us how he felt about us. But he said he didn’t know if he loved you or not — so it didn’t work. I think.” Sam went to gather up his things from around the room, dropping them into his duffel bag. Did they have somewhere to be?

Dean stood there and watched him move around the room, crossing his arms again.

"You didn't ask him how he felt, you asked him if he LOVED ME," he said pointedly. "That's a yes or no question. And the fact that he doesn't know means it's not a definite 'no', which is kind of freaking me out right now! Now he's thinking about it!"

“Hm.” Sam stopped and folded up a shirt slowly. He placed it carefully into the duffel bag and ducked into the bathroom.

There wasn't much to do except to pack up what little Sam hadn't already gotten to — which was basically some of Dean's clothes and some beers he refused to leave in the motel fridge — and to load them into the car.

This whole love spell thing had him anxious now. What if it did work? What if Castiel thought about it long enough and decided his answer was yes? He could appear anytime, anywhere and start this weird conversation up again!

They needed a case. A case would keep Sam occupied so he didn't try and hex anybody again...hopefully.

Sam came back from the bathroom and dumped a handful of bathroom stuff into the bag and zipped it up. 

“Okay. I should probably just tell you now — there’s no cure. It’s a short lived spell. It should wear off in like a month or so. Or if Cas confesses his feelings. But he won’t. I don’t think he’s in love with you. Or me,” he said, shoulders slumping a bit. “Whatever the case is, we should go get going. Check out was an hour ago. I’m kind of surprised that the cleaner isn’t here yet.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and looked at Dean expectantly.

Dean wanted to make some biting remark about worrying about this incurable thing for a month — a freaking month! — but he was too busy noticing the details finally click into place. The way Sam seemed so serious about this whole spell business, and the way his shoulders slumped defeatedly when he mentioned any feelings toward himself. 

This thing wasn't about how Cas felt — it was about Sam. Sam liked Cas. 

Maybe loved him.


	3. Venti Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't sleep, get coffee.

Dean wasn't sure how long he stood there staring, but the moment he noticed it, he abruptly turned and hurried for the door.

"Yep!"

Sam didn’t seem to catch on though. He just trailed after Dean quietly, laptop on one arm.  
The weather outside was more of the same — stormy and drizzling.

“I’ll try to pin down where the blog witch is. If there’s anything to this spell, it means that she’s the real thing. Not really sure why she would share her spells online though,” Sammy mumbled tiredly. He yawned as he put his stuff into the car. “Hey, can we stop for some coffee?”

"Only if it's a drive-thru," Dean grumbled, tossing the stuff he'd packed into the back seat of the Impala. He climbed into the driver's seat, shut the door, and decided right away that now was a good time to blare some '80s rock on the radio.

Talking would only make this more awkward than it already was. 

“So.” Sam said as he closed his door. He looked at Dean and smiled tightly. 

Dean backed them out of the parking lot, pretending not to hear him. So he turned on the radio and NOW Sam wanted to talk? Figured.

“Come on Dean.” Sam turned the radio down and leaned back against the seat. He yawned widely. “Stop freaking out.”

The music was replaced by pattering rain on the Impala's metal roof, and the purr of the engine as they pulled out onto the road. Dean sighed and shook his head, focusing on the road.

"Not sure what you want me to say, here. We're both stuck in some no-cure love hex for the next month, and Cas could figure that out anytime."

“Figure what out? He knows that I tried to put a spell on him. It was supposed to work quickly,” Sam protested, pulling out his phone to poke at it. He was quiet for a blissful second, then he mumbled “Wait. It says that it’ll only take effect after a night's rest.” His little brother smiled at him and shrugged. “Cas doesn’t sleep. Problem solved.”

"So, you think stuff like this just blows over? That this isn't gonna come back and bite us in the butt later?" Dean glanced over at him, raising his eyebrows. "Really? Because every time we screw with magic, bad things happen, Sam."

Where the hell were they even driving to? He pulled out onto the highway, deciding to just cruise for awhile.

“Not always,” Sam said, thinking for a moment. He frowned. “Okay maybe. But this time is different. It’s a harmless spell. It’s not going to light anyone on fire or unleash some horrible baby eating monster — coffee!” He pointed to a stand up on the right.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, the older Winchester turned them into the exit, then the coffee line. It was the tiniest, most garishly green drive-through espresso stand he'd ever seen, with a blinking neon sign that said "EspressGo." 

Dean liked puns, and even he had to cringe.

Sam looked way too excited as he dug out a twenty from his wallet and stuck it in Dean’s face.  
“Venti americano, black. Have them throw an extra shot in there.”

"Oookay." Dean took the twenty, rolling down the window to turn to the very awake-looking young guy in the espresso window. "Americano, extra large, extra shot." 

Close enough.

Satisfied that his coffee was on the way, Sam cleared his throat but kept his voice low. 

“I’m pretty sure Cas is straight. So even if the spell did work — he's got nothing to confess to you.”

Dean glanced at him slowly, shooting him a weird look.

"Do we REALLY have to talk about this in front of the coffee kid?"

“His ears are probably buzzing,” Sam said sarcastically. 

Dean glanced at the barista (who was over tamping coffee grounds into the machine, humming some pop song), opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again. He turned back to Sam, frowning at him.

"So why were you trying to get him to, then? What, just in case?"

Sam stared at him for a long moment, hazel eyes thoughtful. Dean could almost hear the gears turning.

“You two seem to have this kind of bond. I guess…I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like you’re closer to him than me. I’ve just been assuming that it’s because you think of him like another brother — but Cas seems like it might be more than that to him. So yeah. I guess it was just in case.” He turned his gaze out of the window, expression very serious suddenly. 

Dean blinked at him, not sure what to say to that. Apparently, it seemed like Castiel might have a thing for him...and if so, Dean was completely oblivious to it. Awkward.

He went through the motions of paying the barista and taking the espresso from him, his mind running through a whole slew of times Cas had acted awkwardly around him. The angel wasn't exactly perfect at human interaction, and Dean considered things like unexpected hugs just Cas being Cas. He hugged Sammy, too, after all.

Why wasn't he convinced, then? If Sam saw something, then it was probably easy for other people to see, too. Did everybody know something he didn't?

"...Hey. Coffee," he told his brother quietly, holding the espresso over in his general direction. He kept his eyes on the steering wheel, though. This was going to distract them from the witch blogger case, damn it.

“Thanks.” Sam took it and sipped on it, keeping his face turned toward the window. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw his brother crank the radio up. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore.

Dean revved the engine and sped them out onto the road again. For once, the radio annoyed him. They needed to clear the air, but he had no idea how. 

The obvious way to tell how Cas felt was to ask him, but Dean generally dealt with emotional anything by pretending there was no issue and everything was peachy. Maybe they wouldn't even see Cas for awhile. Maybe he should forget this stupid spell and go hunt something.

Sam poked around on his phone for awhile, frowning and sipping his coffee. After a couple of miles he reached the turned the radio down again.

“Dean,” He started very seriously. “I think I found something. There were three reported missing over the past week in Fairfield. Two men and a woman that vanished in broad daylight in a field. It’s about six hours from here.” He looked at Dean very hopefully with tired hazel eyes. “We should check it out. Might be a ritual sacrifice or maybe a cult.” 

A few miles of no talking had given Dean more time to go over various times Cas had hugged him, or used his name every chance he got, or maintained eye contact for way too long. He was so glad to have a distraction from that that he said promptly, "Yeah, good idea. As long as it isn't fairies again."

The Impala growled as they set off faster down the road. "We've got six hours, you should get some sleep."

“No.” Sam snapped. He glanced at Dean sideways and shook his head, lowering his voice. “Uh, no, I’m fine. I’ve got some research to do.” He sipped his coffee and turned his nose back to his phone.

"You're fine. Right," Dean said flatly, glancing at him. He turned back to the road, shaking his head. "You look like death warmed over, but okay."

“Really?” Sam groaned. “Do we have to have this conversation every time I look a little tired?” He tapped on his phone and shook his head.

"A little? You're dosing up on coffee like an addict," Dean replied, annoyed. "And if we're gonna hunt anything, I need you sharp enough to have my back. What's up?" 

He glanced at Sam, and his frown faded away as he considered the options. If Sam liked Cas...maybe loved him...thinking Cas had a thing for Dean had to be rough. 

Sam was looking back at him. He looked tired, but even more than that he looked sad. He looked back out the window and swallowed.

“There’s something else about the spell. Originally I thought that it was just going to be on Cas’s end of things but…You slept right before you — we — cast it.” His eyebrows pinched together. “It’s supposed to get much worse after we sleep. I haven’t slept since before we ganked those vampires.”

"Worse how?" Dean was getting uneasy now. He'd just KNOWN this spell thing wasn't over yet. 

“I said the chant before you. I put the roses under the pillows,” Sam said. He closed his phone and tucked it into his pocket. “I have this sinking feeling that it’s going to hit me harder than you.” He looked at his brother worriedly. “Like schoolgirl-over-boy band hard.”

Dean slowed the car down, glancing at him and raising an eyebrow. 

"Oh, come on. You're serious?" After a glance for confirmation, he shook his head, focusing on the road again. "You're serious...over what? Over CAS?"

“Yes,” Sam said guiltily. “I can’t sleep right now or I might not be able to focus. I need you to have my back, Dean. Don’t let me…do anything.”

"Whoa, whoa," Dean said, pulling the car to a stop alongside the road. There was a big field on either side. He turned to Sam, holding up his hands. "What if I'm hexed, too? What then?"

“We tell Cas he can’t show up for a month,” Sam said with an exasperated shrug. “I don’t know! Maybe we should just find a witch and make them cure us. I honestly didn’t think of this.” He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “Maybe we can cast a stronger spell. Like one to make us void of emotion or something.” He pulled his phone back out and started typing.

Dean reached over and grabbed his sleeve, pulling his hand away from the phone screen. 

"No more spells! There has to be a cure. I say we find this witch blogger and have a chat."

“Uh, yes. Let’s do that,” Sam agreed, taking long drink from his espresso. “Drive. We’re only a couple hours out.”

Dean pulled the car back onto the road, revving the engine. "Exactly. I thought it just made you confess things you already feel, though? Why would it make us act lovesick?"

Sam didn’t reply. He drank his coffee, shrinking down into his seat a bit.

Dean decided not to push him. His brother looked exhausted already — it would be a wonder if he actually made it through their road trip without sleeping. 

Maybe noise would help. Dean turned the radio back up and revved the engine. He was already coming up with a backup plan in case Sam fell asleep. Hopefully he wouldn't, because things would be so much less awkward that way.


	4. Checking In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody needs a nap.

Despite bracing his head up on his arm, Sam’s head kept bobbing as he almost nodded off. As soon as it got dark outside — he started yawning and fidgeting in his seat. He sighed and flipped the radio off.

“We need to pull over. Please.”

"We're almost there," Dean sighed, too, but pulled the car over without questioning it too much. 

Sam pushed the door open and got out immediately. He paced around the Impala and perched on the hood, trying to cover another yawn. The air felt cool and fresh through the forgotten open passenger door.

Dean got out of the car and stepped around to lean against the hood, too. It had been hours of driving — stretching his legs wasn't bad. He looked at his brother sidelong, crossing his arms.

"Gonna make it?"

It sure didn't look like it.

Sammy crossed his arms and nodded. But he started shaking his head suddenly.

“No. I don’t…I feel it. This pit in my stomach. I need to talk to Cas.” He looked over at Dean sadly. “Please.”

"Are you gonna try and explain things to him?" Dean looked at him worriedly. That would be less complicated, but it would mess up his backup plan — which was telling Cas the blogger witch hexed Sam. So, lying. Plan B was lying. 

Sam hadn't fallen asleep this whole time, though, so he wasn't affected by the spell yet. Right?

“No — I have to tell him.” Sam said firmly, grabbing Dean’s shoulder. “Maybe if I confess — it’ll go away? But he won’t come if I call him. I need you to pray.” Sammy looked at him very intently. 

"Confess? Damn it, Sammy..." Dean sighed, realizing what was going on. The spell was taking over. Somehow, at some point in their trip, Sam must have dozed off for awhile. 

He patted his brother's shoulder in return, taking a deep breath. Awkward backup plan it was, then. "Maybe you're right. I'll call him for ya."

Sam nodded. He kept a grip on his older brother’s shoulder, staring at him with all of his focus. It was a look that told Dean he was about to do the most important thing in the world. Was Sam even breathing?

Remembering the whole spell fiasco in the first place, Dean felt bad for him. How much of that look was from the spell, and how much of it might be real?

Either way, he really wished he had a chance to warn Cas before the angel showed up right there with his brother. No help for it, though. He closed his eyes and focused on Castiel. 

Like everybody right now, apparently.

"Cas, I know we called you down for stupid stuff this morning, but we seriously need your help right now," he said quietly. "Come back and talk a minute. Please?"

He heard Sam take a bracing breath in as the hand on his shoulder slipped away.

The next moment, there was that familiar rustle of feathers, and he opened his eyes quickly. The angel was on the other side of the Impala, right by the driver side door. 

"What's wrong?" Cas noticed neither of them looked injured, or in particular trouble. Well, besides Sam looking dead on his feet.

Maybe he had been right that Sam wasn’t breathing — because there was a loud metal thunk as he landed on the Impala’s hood and rolled off.

Did Sam just…swoon?

Dean hurried over to his brother, kneeling beside him. 

"Hey! Sammy?" He turned Sam's head to get a look at his face, fighting back the alarm bells that were ringing. What if the spell had side effects? Witch spells did nasty stuff, like melting your organs....

Cas stepped quickly over as well, kneeling to look Sam over. He hovered a hand by the younger Winchester's shoulder, looking at Dean for some explanation. 

"What happened?"

Sam’s eyes snapped back open and he scrambled past them to his feet. He brushed dirt off of his clothes, blushing profusely.

“I’m f-fine,” he stammered in embarrassment. His eyes flicked Castiel’s direction but he looked away. “Hi Cas.”

"Hello Sam." Cas nodded at him, tilting his head to try and get a better look at his face. "..."

"He's just dead tired," Dean told the angel, grabbing his shoulder and steering him back around the Impala again to put some distance between them and Sam. Under his breath, he added, "Witch hexed him. He might confess his undying love for you. Just ignore it, okay?"

Cas blinked and looked back at Sam, brows furrowing worriedly. 

"Okay..."

Sam stayed where he was, shoving his hands into his pockets. He licked his lips and closed his eyes, mouthing something to himself. It looked something like ‘I can do this.’

"Listen, I can't find a cure for this thing, and Sam's too...distracted...to do much research," Dean continued. "I need your help on this, Cas." 

Castiel turned back to him, nodding quite seriously. 

"How can I help?"

Oh, good, he was going to stick around. Not that that would be easy with Sam swooning every two seconds, but Cas would help a lot.

"Think I found out where she lives. The witch," he added, before he remembered he'd already mentioned her. "I need you to come with me, since Sam's not in any shape to go on a hunt. And, uh...not to break Sammy's heart in the meantime. Can you do that for me?"

Solemnly, Cas promised, "Of course, Dean."

“You know — I’ll take the bus and meet you guys there.” Sam called over to them, hurrying around the other side of the car to get his bag and laptop.

"The bus? You'd fall asleep and miss your stop," Dean said drolly. He stepped back over to Sam's side of the car, leaning near the door to talk to him quietly so Cas might not hear. "Hey, whatever happened to confessions? He's right here, no time like the present!"

Cas lingered on the other side of the car, looking around them quietly. They weren't in the fields anymore--there was actually a bus stop about a hundred feet ahead, although it was just a sign in the middle of the road.

“I can’t — it’d just confuse him. D-did you explain everything? Does he know about the spell?” Sam shook his head. He dared a look at Cas and froze. But the look of infatuation turned to guilt and he shook his head again. “I can’t, Dean.”

"He knows there's a spell, and that we're looking for the witch it belongs to," Dean told him, watching this dubiously. "I didn't tell him anything about a blog or that the roses were from the same spell. Just take it easy, ride in the back seat if you want. Maybe take a nap."

“Right. If I already slept, it shouldn’t get any worse,” Sam told him with a nod. “Right?” He looked at Dean with a grimace.

"Right," Dean said confidently, even though he really had no idea. He patted his brother's shoulder and smiled at him. "Cas is gonna help me find a cure for this thing, and then I say we introduce him to deep fried twinkies. Bet he hasn't tried those yet."

Sam nodded and dropped his stuff back into the car. He circled the car carefully, keeping his eyes on the ground as he crawled into the back seat. Sammy shut the door and sank into the seat with his arms crossed over his chest. At least he didn't seem tired anymore — but the bags under his eyes said otherwise.

Cas watched this, then shot Dean a questioning look. The older Winchester held up a hand, nodding. 

"You get shotgun, Cas. We're only about an hour out from witch town, c'mon." He climbed into the driver's side, passing by the angel on the way since they were on exactly the opposite sides they needed to be.

They pulled out onto the road again a moment later, Dean yawning a little. It was a good thing they were going to get a cure before he had to sleep, too, or Cas would be the only level-headed person there.

Sam looked like he was trying to make himself invisible in the back seat, but kept his eyes locked on Castiel.

As a little road side coffee shop came into view ahead, Sam spoke up.

“Can we get coffee?”

"You should really get some sleep," Dean told him. He pulled over into the drive-thru anyway, though. It was going to be a long night, and yawning made him feel like some kind of ticking bomb. If he dozed off even for a second, Cas was RIGHT THERE on the off chance this spell actually affected Dean, too.

“Cas, you look great,” Sam suddenly blurted out. He immediately slapped a hand over his face and sank back down in the backseat. 

Dean glanced quickly over his shoulder, cringing a bit. Awkward grade school crush described the situation here. 

Cas looked back, too, blinking. 

"Thank you, Sam." 

He exchanged a glance with Dean, who made it clear with his expression that yes, this was probably the spell talking. He looked back to Sam, and carefully reached a hand back to pat his shoulder. "If you have a headache, I can probably heal it. Would you like me to try?"

“No,” Sam gulped and pushed his hand away like it was a snake. “I always thought that you look like a mess — or like you were homeless — but it just kind of makes you look hot.”

Sam’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he’d just said, and he bailed out of the car.

Cas turned in his seat and watched the taller man bolt away, frowning worriedly. 

"I see what you mean."

"Sam!" Dean hopped out of the car, shoving his wallet at Cas. "Here, just order us three Americanos." He hurried after his brother at a jog. "Sammy...! Where are you going?"

“Away!” Sam said back at him. He gestured to the car. “I can’t be that close to him!” He stopped and shook his head frantically. “He touched me!”

"He knows you're hexed — he's keeping an eye on you," Dean said, exasperated. "We need his help, Sam."

“I know.” Sam sighed. He looked back at the car and shifted on his feet. “I’m sorry. I just…This is freaking me out. I feel like I can’t keep my mouth shut — I can’t even think!”

Dean turned back toward the car, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Yeeeaah, it's pretty awkward, I won't lie. But he knows it's a spell talking, Sammy. Just say 'sorry, that was the spell again,' and you're good."

Sam sighed heavily and started back to the car without comment. He climbed back into the open door and shut it.

Castiel had climbed out of the car to order the coffees and pay at the little window. He got back into the passenger side and sat there quietly, holding a cup holder with the three espressos in it. Dean was making his way around the front of the car, and just barely caught the angel's comment. 

"I'm sorry. You're running away from me, aren't you?"

“It’s the hex,” Sammy replied shortly. He swallowed hard, biting the sleeve of his coat and squeezing his eyes closed.

He was really determined not to talk. At least they were close to town now.

"Dean and I will help you," Cas promised. Dean climbed into the driver's seat again, watching the angel turn and offer Sam the tray of coffee. "Here...I got a coffee for you."

Sam stared at Cas like he had just shot him. He took a cup from the tray and nodded, letting go of the sleeve.

“Thanks, Cas.” Before he could add anymore, he put the sleeve back into his mouth and pressed back into the seat. He looked slightly pale.

Cas sat back in his seat as Dean started the car, and they pulled back out onto the road again. The nap had worn off awhile ago, and the older Winchester was yawning again. Seeing this, Cas handed him a coffee as well. 

"How far away is the witch? Maybe I could bring her to you," he suggested, studying the last espresso cup in its cup tray.

"We're almost there," Dean assured them both, revving the Impala's engine. "Hopefully the cure doesn't take some weird foreign ingredient."

Sam nodded a bit in the backseat, eyes still directed at the back of Cas’s head. He let go of the shirt and quickly sipped on his coffee. He took a breath and sat up.

“Do you see a motel?”

"So far, just a really run-down gas station," Dean admitted, looking around the town as the Impala purred her way through the small single main street. 

Cas finally took a sip of his coffee, glancing back at Sam. 

Dean could see Sammy staring back at the angel, shaking his head slowly. He undid his seat belt and sat forward between the seat, coffee still in hand.

"Are you going to sleep before we search for the witch?" Cas sounded concerned with that plan. Dean didn't blame him; it sure seemed like the effects the spell had on Sam got worse the longer they were there.

"No, but Sam should probably stay in the room while we find her," he explained.

“Cas.” Sam said, reaching around the seat to turn the dark haired man’s face his direction with his free hand. “I…” He trailed off slowly, completely lost in staring at Castiel up close. “Schoolgirl crush” really wasn't too far off.

Cas didn't try to move his hand, looking at him quietly in return. The guy had a very intent stare, and Dean felt a little uncomfortable sitting there driving and trying not to look at either of them. 

Hopefully Sam was too flustered to make any move beyond that. Hopefully.

Sam mumbled something that wasn’t actual words, cringed and then sat back into his seat heavily. He shakily ran a hand through his hair.

Dean pulled the car into the motel parking lot, killing the engine. He cleared his throat loudly, took a deep breath, and got out of the car.

"Hang in there, Sammy. I'll get you a room and we'll go get you cured," he promised.

Sam got out of the car and followed him, almost dumping his coffee as he tripped over the curb. He caught up to Dean in two strides.

Dean turned back to talk to Cas, and was nearly run over. He stepped to the side, turning back to the car and waving to the angel. 

"Sit tight, Cas, I'll be right back." 

Cas nodded and looked down at his coffee, troubled. Maybe he was concerned about Sam. With good reason, at the moment... 

The woman in the office was about to lock the door when they arrived. She let them in begrudgingly and circled around the counter.

“I only have one king left — 50 bucks and it’s yours, boys.” She mumbled around her toothpick. “Free mints on the pillows.”

"Sounds like a deal," Dean replied quickly, offering a slightly tight smile. The room only had one bed — because of course it did. He didn't intend for Sam and Cas to be in that room near the bed at the same time. 

“Key please.” Sam said, shoving a fifty dollar bill at her. The woman slapped the key into his hand and pulled the door open for them.

“Checkout is at noon.”

Dean waved over his shoulder, snagging his brother's arm and practically dragging him down the hallway. 

"Thanks!"

Once they were a little further away, he glanced up at his brother. 

"What room number is it?"

“Sixteen.” Sam replied, stopping to face Dean. “How is this going to work?” Dean noticed that a streak of red. It trailed down from Sammy’s right eye, falling in a droplet off his chin. He didn’t seem to notice it at all as he continued. “You don’t know anything about the spell — I should be going with you.”

Seeing the little trail of blood, Dean frowned and swiped a bit of it up with one finger, showing it to Sam. 

"I don't think so. We'll figure it out — you need to take it easy."

“What…”Sam flinched, staring at the blood. He brushed his cheek and looked at his hand with a frown. “Do I have a nosebleed or something?”

Dean shook his head.

"Listen, I can do this. Tell me what blog the spell's on, and— You didn't make any hex bags for that spell, did you?" He said worriedly.

“Really?” Sam’s eyebrows lowered. “No. The roses and blood were the only components.” He offered Dean the key. “I can’t just sit here. We don’t need Cas along. We can do this without him.”

"Just had to ask," Dean sighed, holding up his hands. "You really think Cas would leave now, even if we told him to?"

“Okay. Let’s all go inside, then. We’ll explain everything to him, I’ll figure out where the witch is and then we can go from there.”

Finding the witch as soon as possible seemed best for Sam, but Dean didn't protest. Really, he wanted to take a peek at the blog and see if there was some way to cure this thing that didn't involve even speaking to the witch. No hex bags involved, so it was possible...

It didn't seem like Sam to miss something like that, though.

"Sure, okay," he agreed, turning back the way they'd come. "Let's get Cas and maybe some dinner."


	5. Fessing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas finds out the witch didn't curse anybody.

This was a bad idea. Dean paused in typing on the laptop long enough to smother a yawn with his hand, sighing. They'd been in the motel for a couple hours at this point, and he was getting tired.

Still not much to go on from the witch's blog...or GPS tracking, old newspapers, and dredging up her entire lineage on a genealogy site. No family members lived anywhere remotely near here. Why did she?

Across the room, Cas was leaned against the wall near the door, doing his best not to stare at Sam. Everybody was painfully aware there was only the one bed.

Sam was laying on the bed, staring at the roof tiredly. He had a napkin pressed to his cheek in case his eye started bleeding again.

It was a little weird how calm he was now. Cas way barely ten feet away, but Sam seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Maybe he would have a relapse if he fell asleep?

Abandoning the laptop on the foot of the bed, Dean groaned and flopped over next to him. He'd finally figured out why the witch didn't seem to have anything to do with this little town. 

She didn't live here. The damned blog just listed this as her address. 

Sam rolled his head to look at Dean, raising an eyebrow.

“No luck?”

Dean glanced at him, then broke into another large yawn, covering his mouth with his hand. 

"...Witch's not even from around here. I'm pretty sure she's outside the U.S. and lists this address to hide it."

Cas stepped over beside the bed, still holding his empty espresso cup. 

"How did she curse him from so far away? You have many enemies that would love to be able to do that." 

Dean glanced up at him. Oh, right. Cas thought the witch hexed Sam, because he'd conveniently left out the part where his brother plucked a random spell off of the internet and cast it on the two of them...

"..."

“Um,” Sammy sat up slowly and tucked the napkin away. “She didn’t. I did.” He admitted, keeping his eyes turned away from Cas. “Remember the roses and me asking you questions—” He stopped short when he finally looked up at the angel. Averting his eyes again, Sam cleared his throat. "That was the spell."

Cas tilted his head, eyes narrowing. Dean tried to decide which he'd mind more — that they cast a spell on him, or that Dean lied to him about it. Either way, he felt bad for Sam. Pissing your crush off probably felt like the end of the world.

"...You cast the spell," Cas said finally, looking down at the coffee cup he held. He frowned. "On me?"

Dean sat up, sighing. 

"Not his finest moment ever."

“I’m really sorry, Cas,” Sam said, swinging his legs off of the bed and standing up. He tucked his hands back into his jacket pockets and sighed. Pacing around the bed, he glanced over at Castiel sideways.

“It wasn’t supposed to have this strong of an effect.”

The angel turned toward him when he moved, blue eyes moving quickly to his face. Sam's eye wasn't bleeding again, that Dean could tell. 

"But you're the one affected. Why isn't it me?" He didn't SOUND pissed off... 

“You don’t sleep. The spell specified that it would only work to its full effect after we sleep,” Sam explained, hunching his shoulders and turning away from them. He bit his lip.

"...Yeah," Dean said finally, just agreeing with what Sam was saying. "Also, the spell had some of my blood involved, so I'm pretty sure if I sleep then I'LL be all goo goo over you, too, Cas."

He wondered what that had to be like. Weird, most likely.

Castiel looked from him back to Sam, sitting his coffee cup on the floor at his feet. Cautiously, he placed a hand on the taller man's shoulder. 

"Sam."

“D-don’t — what?” Sam said quickly, straining not to look at Cas. 

Cas pulled on his shoulder, though, trying to get him to turn around. 

"What was the spell supposed to do? Dean didn't explain it...only told me that you might act strangely." He glanced briefly back at Dean as he said it. 

Dean crossed his arms. Cas was an awful liar, but apparently omitting things was something he could do. Dean had flat-out said his brother might make a love confession.

“It’s supposed to…” Sam mumbled, finally turning to look at Cas. He blinked slowly, expression softening from fear to…dreamy eyed? 

He suddenly put a hand on Cas’s cheek, trailing his thumb across the angel’s lips.

Cas glanced down at the hand on his face, then met Sam's eyes seriously. 

"We need your help, Sam. You know the spell better than us." He spoke softly, like maybe full volume would startle Sam out of his trance.

Dean scooted quickly for the edge of the bed to go separate them. Maybe he shouldn't, though? Cas didn't seem that bothered by the attention. Maybe because he knew it was the spell talking, though. Too bad Sam didn't ask how Cas felt about him earlier.

“Yeah. Yes,” Sam said slowly. He nodded the tiniest bit and moved back from Cas. “Yes. Right. What, um, what can I do?” He breathed at last, moving farther away from the angel. A red tear slipped down his cheek and fell onto the collar of his jacket, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Cas frowned a little at the tear, but didn't comment on it. 

"The intent of the spell," he prompted, gesturing to Dean without looking at him. "Dean said you used his blood. Why not yours?"

“I was trying to cast it on you and him — it wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with me.”

Cas blinked and glanced at Dean, but said nothing about that. Dean, meanwhile, was hovering near the side of the bed. Nobody had tried to make out yet, so he was just keeping an eye on them and letting them chat for now. At least Sammy could talk to Cas without fleeing the room now...

"You're bleeding again," the angel observed, touching his collar lightly where the blood tear had fallen before. "Are you in any pain?" 

“Cas.” Sam grabbed the scruffy man’s hand and just held it. He bit his lip, wrapping his arm around Cas’s waist to pull him closer. “I love you.”

"Oookay, let's not forget I'm here too!" Dean hurriedly stepped over to detach Sam from the angel. Castiel seemed like he wanted to reply, but only furrowed his brows unhappily and patted Sam's shoulder. From a bit of a distance.

"If you weren't under a spell, you wouldn't say that."

Sam quickly regained his senses, cheeks glowing. He circled Dean and scooped the computer up off of the bed. Yanking it open, he looked at Cas, cringed and then opened the laptop.

“There has to be SOME kind of treatment or a spell to counteract it — anything.”

"Trust me, I looked," Dean said tiredly, straightening the collar of Cas's trench coat like he'd been roughed up in a fight. The angel glanced at him, then down at his coat. He was still frowning. 

"Maybe it would end if you do whatever you're wanting to do." If 'confess undying love' was the only thing, he'd just checked that off of the list.

"NOT happening," Dean said promptly, shaking his head.

“I think I just did.” Sammy sat the laptop aside and dabbed at his face with the napkin from his pocket. He sighed deeply and looked over at Cas sadly. “Why aren’t I cured?”

"Cas didn't sleep, so he can't do the other half of this thing," Dean reasoned, glancing between them. Cas looked bothered again. Again, it seemed like he wanted to say something in response to Sam, but didn't. 

"Maybe if Dean sleeps," he said, looking over at Sam. "Why isn't he in love with anyone?"

“I’m not one hundred percent on it, but my best guess is that I said the spell first — so it might not even effect him.” He shifted to lay back on the bed, frowning. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe it’ll be over when Dean sleeps.”

Damn it — talking about sleep was making Dean yawn again. 

"No...what if I wake up and I'm in love with Cas, too?" He asked a bit plaintively. "We'll be screwed!"

Probably not the best phrasing. He was too tired for this. 

Cas completely ignored the comment and stepped over to feel Sam's forehead. 

"The bleeding eye can't be something the spell intended..."

“It isn’t.” Sam stared up at Cas, placing a hand over his. He leaned up and kissed the angel’s palm. Then he looked back up at Cas very intently.

Cas blinked and glanced down at his hand, then back to Sam's face. Dean thought he looked maybe a bit...sad? No, he'd probably imagined it. 

"I can't sleep," he interrupted the two and their staring at each other. Cas wasn't hexed, but he always stared like that. "Somebody has to watch you two."

“No you don’t.” Sam said firmly, scooting away from Cas. He took a deep breath and swallowed. “No, let’s just get some rest. Could you wait in the car Cas?”

A quick nod was his reply, and Cas was already stepping away from the bed and over to Dean. The older Winchester waved him away, rubbing his forehead.

"Thanks, Cas..."

A rustle of feathers, and he and his brother were alone in the room once more. 

Sammy promptly flopped over on the bed. He ran a hand over his face and exhaled loudly.

“Am I ever going to live that down?”

Dean sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. 

"The part where you said you loved him, or the part where you kissed him...?"

“BOTH.” Sam groaned. He rolled and took his shoes off, half flinging them at the grisly beige carpet. “I hope the spell works on you too.”

Dean lowered his hand, turning to frown at his brother. 

"Don't say that! Then the only level-headed person here is gonna be CAS," he pointed out, yawning.

“We can’t stay awake forever,” Sam said with a shrug. “I seriously doubt it can get any worse than it is for me. I’ve confessed that I love him, kissed his hand and thought about — uh, other things. Let’s get some sleep.” He laid back and closed his eyes, tucking his arms up close.

Dean unhappily settled on his back on the other side of the bed, closing his eyes. One would've thought the concept of waking up with a love spell on you that affected your thinking would make it hard to sleep.

Not so much.


	6. Checking Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean-o-vision.

The next thing Dean knew, there was a hand shaking his shoulder. 

"Dean! Wake up," Cas said, looking at him grimly. "The landlord says it's check out time." 

Only about half of that got through to Dean, who was too distracted by noticing how...well, angelic Cas sounded. His voice was just the best thing possible to wake up to. Wow. 

Dean smiled at him, sitting up on his elbows. 

"Hey, good morning." Cas's eyes were so blue. How come he didn't notice that more often? 

"We need to return the key and leave," Cas clarified, as if Dean didn’t know what ‘check out’ meant. The angel circled around the bed to shake Sam's shoulder next. "Sam, wake up..."

“Cas?” Sam rolled to look up at him, squinting. He blushed and reached up to grip the angel’s tie. “God,” Sam breathed, “your eyes are beautiful.”

"Thank you, Sam," Cas said as evenly as he could, glancing over at Dean as he carefully detached Sam’s hand from his tie. The older Winchester caught himself staring, and averted his eyes awkwardly. "...How do you feel? Are you okay?" 

“I feel…great.” Sam said dreamily. He bit his lip, eyes scanning over the angel’s mouth thoughtfully. 

"I'm fine, too," Dean informed them, feeling kind of ignored for some reason. "Thanks for asking."

He was pleasantly surprised when Cas moved away from Sam and came over to stand on his side again. Dean sat on the edge of the bed with a little smile on his face, admiring the angel's dark hair and the way he always tied his tie just...TERRIBLY. It was cute, though. 

Cas looked him in the eye and intently took one of his hands. What the hell? Dean was pretty sure his heart just skipped a beat.

It was Sammy’s turn to look at them with a frown. But he didn’t say anything to interrupt. He got off of the bed and slipped on his shoes. They’d been so tired that they had slept in their clothes.

Dean barely noticed that, though. He was watching Cas watch him with a mixture of embarrassment and bewilderment. His face felt hot. Was he BLUSHING? Looking Cas in the eye seemed dangerous right now, so he looked at his mouth instead.

God, his lips were perfect. How could they be that perfect?

Spell, he reminded himself. Right, there was a love spell. There was no way THESE feelings were caused by that, though. No, these feelings were REAL. He loved Cas, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and he KNEW it.

The angel abruptly let go of his hand, though, taking a step back. 

"You're affected now that you slept," he noted, sounding like he'd expected as much. "And Sam isn't any better..." 

He looked at Dean's brother with that worried little furrow in his perfect eyebrows, and it took every last once of Dean's willpower not to reach over and run a hand through his dark hair. That seemed kind of weird and a little creepy. Maybe the spell was causing that part. He'd go with that.

“I’ll order breakfast,” Sam offered quietly, hovering by the door with his laptop in hand. He typed clumsily with one hand. “Cas is right — we have to focus.” Taking a deep breath, Sammy stepped back closer to them. “The witch blogged a new post.” 

He rotated the laptop and showed it to Cas and Dean. The screen read ‘Love Charms without Harms’ in big bold pink letters.

Dean leaned to looked at the screen, but he was distracted by how close Cas was standing to both of them. He smelled good. How did he smell that good? 

Focus, damn it, Dean told himself.

"Are these spells anything like the one you cast, Sam?" Cas was looking at his brother again, and he didn't like it. 

“Yes.” Sam took a step back and nodded. “She was the one that made the first spell — or at least, passed it on from some old source.” He closed the laptop and sat it aside on the bed.

"Maybe we need to find the source instead," Cas mused, looking at the laptop. He was probably trying to ignore the way Dean was staring at him.

“That’s what we were trying to do — but she’s not here. Dean said that she probably isn’t even in the country,” Sam explained, eyes locked on Cas again. 

"What if there's some musty old book with the same spells in it?" Dean suggested, trying not to be jealous when Cas looked up at his brother. 

This was so weird. He didn't think he loved Cas yesterday — he could remember thinking it wasn't even possible — but right now he was positive that it was true. The spell didn’t create any feelings that weren’t already there, though. Was he really in that much denial...? It wasn't THAT big of a deal that Cas's vessel was male, as long as it was Cas.

“It’s possible,” Sam said, finally breaking his gaze away to look at Dean instead. “We need to check books on witchcraft, specifically those in Latin.”

Dean had fallen silent, still studying the weird state his mind was in. He frowned at the laptop, and nodded absently.

"Yeah...we should make some calls, I guess. I don't know, this doesn't feel like a spell." He glanced at Cas and quickly back down to the computer. "Feels real."

Sammy went and dug the book out of his bag, starting to flip through the worn pages as he returned to perch on the side of the bed.

“I’ll see who I can call. Why don’t you go grab breakfast?” He dug out his cell phone and started typing in a number.

"Sounds good," Dean said quickly, nodding. He turned toward the door, snagging one of Cas's arms. Whoa — holy biceps, Batman. "C'mon, Cas, let's go find out where they keep the pancakes!"

The motel room’s flimsy door shook from someone pounding on the outside.

“Hey lover boys — checkout was fifteen minutes ago!” Came a growl from the old woman outside of the door. “I told you last night!”

Oh, yeah. Cas did say it was check out time, didn’t he?

Sam promptly shoved the book away and hurried to pack up the odds and ends around the room.

Dean wasn't sure whether to be annoyed that a stranger had — once again — somehow assumed he and Sam were gay and not related, or to be flattered they might think he and Cas were together. He settled for blushing and releasing the angel's arm at last, clearing his throat loudly.

"We can find a drive-thru."

"Quickly, someone give her the key," Cas told the brothers, glancing at the door worriedly.

“Right.” Sam said, joining them by the door. He pulled it open and gave the annoyed woman his best smile, offering her the key. “We’re very sorry — the alarm didn’t go off.”

The woman didn’t make any comment, snagging the key and retreating back around the corner of the building.

“Jeez.” Sam turned to Cas and sighed. “You smell amazing,” he admitted, blushing deeply.

"Easy on the eyes, too," Dean added fondly. He'd be annoyed at Sam for hitting on Cas, but…well, he was right.

"We should go," the angel told them, seeming unsure what to say to either compliment. Did he look a tiny bit uncomfortable, maybe? Dean hoped it wasn't from what he'd said.

“Yep,” Sam agreed shortly, stepping out of the door. “I think I saw a diner on the way into town.”

Dean was going to grab Cas's arm again, but when he turned, the angel was already halfway out the door. Following Sam. That kind of stung, but okay, whatever... 

He sighed and trudged after the others, closing the door behind him. If this spell made people confess their true feelings, then he and Sam might just have a problem.

Sam threw his stuff in the back and paused by the passenger door to wait for Dean.

“We should grab breakfast and head out of town. There’s no reason to stay here.”

"Where to, though?" Dean glanced behind him at Cas over poking through the (ancient) phone book by the pay phone. Did he think that any of the info in there was up to date? Cute. 

Tugging his thoughts back to the present, he stepped closer to Sam and lowered his voice. "Sammy, listen..."

“What is it?” Sam leaned in to listen, looking very concerned about whatever it was that Dean was about to tell him.

Dean cleared his throat, glancing quickly to be sure Cas was not right next to them. The angel was still examining the phone book thoughtfully. Maybe he was looking up pancake houses. That was sweet of him...

He slapped his own forehead abruptly, wincing. 

"Focus! ...Ouch. A-HEM. Sam." He sat up and looked Sam in the eye, taking a deep breath. "That spell just makes you CONFESS feelings, right? You’re sure it doesn't make fake ones?"

“Yes.” Sammy nodded grimly. It’s okay Dean — this is why I did it in the first place,” he added in a whisper. “With how you and Cas are…” He shrugged. “It’s alright. You two are good together.”

Dean looked at him unhappily. 

"Don't be so sure. He can't sleep, so we'll never see his side of it — if there is one. I'm pretty sure there isn't." Why did that send such a pang through his chest? Maybe Cas couldn't love them any more than he could sleep.

"We should drive North. There is a cafe." Cas's voice from behind him made him jump. When had the angel walked over? How much had he heard of this conversation?

“Good idea,” Sam said, yanking the back passenger door open and gesturing for Cas to get in. 

The angel got into the back seat without protest, looking troubled again. Like he wanted to say something. Why didn't he just spit it out, whatever it was? It was starting to bother Dean. 

He got into the car, too, and started the engine. The spell made it obvious that him AND Sam were carrying torches for Cas. Who deserved to be happy more, here? He sure didn't feel like it was him.

  


* * *

  


The diner was busy. It was a nice distraction from Castiel, but it only worked when Sam kept his eyes on his food. He was smoothing a little half melted blob of butter across the pancakes, trying to make that take awhile.

That was it, then. The spell had done what he had originally wanted — it made Dean realize that he had feelings for Cas. His plan had been a success.

Too much of a success, maybe. Now he felt like he was in love with Cas, too — but couldn’t say anything about it. Knowing Dean, if he got wind that Sam loved the angel — like, actually loved him, not just blurted out whatever flustered thing was on his mind in that moment — he’d throw himself on the flames and let them be together.

Which was basically exactly what Sam had planned for himself.

He looked up across the table at Castiel. Sam could remember the moment they met, that moment when Cas took Sam’s hand. The tall man smiled a little to himself, recalling how ridiculously excited he had been to meet a real, live angel. It didn’t hurt that he was a handsome and awkwardly adorable one. 

Cas seemed to feel the stare on him. He looked up from the book he had leaned against the table, meeting Sam's stare thoughtfully.

Sam flinched and snapped his gaze back to his pancakes. Right. They were in public. Dean. Dean was there. Sam had insisted that Cas get his own side of the diner booth. It was just safer that way. But if he wanted them to get together anyway, he probably should’ve made Dean sit with Cas.

He glanced at his brother. Dean was right. Since Cas never slept, they’d never know his side of it. But after a month, when the spell wore off, they’d all know Dean’s feelings were real. Sam had a horrible gut feeling that the spell was nothing like what it claimed to be, but at least it had gotten the ball rolling for Dean and Cas.

Seeing the look they exchanged, Dean abruptly hopped off of his seat on Sam's side and hurried off to the counter, mumbling something about running out of syrup.

Cas looked after him, then sighed and placed the book on the table. 

"Sam, we should talk."


	7. Love Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Cas have a chat without Dean.

Sam shifted, unsure if he should follow Dean or bask in having a moment alone with Cas.

What if Dean needed to talk to him? But Cas had something to say too. Maybe he found a cure?  
Picking his fork back up, Sam forced himself to look neutral. He couldn’t let the damn spell win, bleeding eyes or not. He cleared his throat.

“Did you find something?”

Cas looked down at the book again, shaking his head. 

"No. You cast this spell, Sam. Tell me exactly what went into it." The angel's stare was very difficult to avoid when sitting straight across the table from him.

Sam gulped nervously, feeling transparent under that gaze. God. He leaned on the table and took a breath.

“Um, it needed two roses — one for Dean and one for you. Then I brushed the stems with fresh blood from the questioner, Dean, and we said the chant.” He stared back at Cas. “Then he kissed…the roses.”

"Roses..." Cas glanced down at the book, nodding a little. He didn't go back to reading, though. Instead, he reached across the table and placed a hand on one of Sam's, focusing on him again. "And then you asked me those questions?"

“I did,” Sam breathed, eyes following Cas’s hand. If it hadn’t been tough to focus before… “I just wanted to see if it worked. But you said that you didn’t know.” He looked back at the dark haired angel, doing his best to stay on track. He frowned. “You weren’t sure if you loved Dean.”

"I wasn't sure I understood the question," Cas admitted, looking down at their hands. He hesitated, almost adding something else, and then shook his head. "How do you know it's love? How are you so sure?"

“I just do —” Sam stopped himself sharply, shaking his head. No. He wasn’t in love with Cas. Staring over into those crystal blue eyes didn’t help convince him. “You just know. You think about them a lot, and you make time for them. Sometimes you’ll turn to say something to them — but they won’t be there,” he added, turning his hand over to hold Cas’s hand in return. “You look forward to seeing them. That kind of cheesy stuff.”

"If I don't just know, then..." Cas seemed a little sad about what he was saying. He studied their hands, brows furrowing. That was the same hand Sam had kissed earlier, he realized. 

Dean had been gone an awfully long time. 

“Sometimes it creeps up on you. You just look at the same person and you realize that you can’t — don’t want to — live without them.”

Sam slid his hand away. He felt a little woozy. The brunette ran a hand through his hair, sneaking a glance over his shoulder to check on Dean.

His brother was standing over near the front desk, looking out the window and talking on his cell phone. Did he get a call, or had he left just to make one?

Whichever the case was, Sam just wanted him to come back over to stop the awkward conversation that Cas was determined to have. Sam looked back at the angel, frowning.

“I’m sorry I don’t have a definite answer for you. I don’t think anyone does.”

Castiel had been looking over at Dean, too. He glanced back to Sam when Sam looked at him, though, and he seemed almost guilty.

"I'm sorry I can't sleep and cure you both."

“Not sure that’d fix it, but thanks.” Sam smiled at him sadly. He poked at his pancakes some more.

Dean and Cas had a deep connection that he could never touch. Something that had been made through their general bond of taking care of…well, of him. Dean wanted Cas to keep Sam safe and in the process, the angel seemed to spend most of his time watching out for Dean.

Finally. Someone as protective of Dean as he was of Sam. 

Cas sat up in his seat, nodding. The intent staring was, again, impossible to avoid right across the table from him. 

"You're not done yet?" Dean stepped up to the table abruptly, still shoving his phone in his pocket and trying very hard to look at Sam instead of Castiel. "We've gotta get moving."

“Right. Who were you calling?” Abandoning his food, Sam shoved a twenty on the table and got up. Why wasn’t Dean looking at Cas? He seemed completely head over heels earlier — maybe even a little jealous.

Dean ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Cas with a little smile. He probably wasn't aware of it. 

"...Nobody. Garth called me," he said after a long moment, forcing himself to focus on Sam again. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "There's, uh, there's a case for us. Fairfield. Three people disappeared from a field, broad daylight...sound familiar?"

Right. They'd actually come here with a case in mind, not just this blogging witch mess.

“Right.” Sam said shortly. “I, uh, forgot about that.” He kept his eyes forward and ducked outside. Having a case was wonderful. It was a distraction from Cas and how helpless he felt when facing the angel down.

He had to focus. Stay in the present. It was just a spell. Nothing more. Sam stopped beside the beautiful Impala. It had started to rain. The droplets only added to how shiny and pretty she was.

Cas probably looked damn nice when he was wet, too.

Sam felt his cheeks flush as he bit his lip. No. No, Cas was going to be with Dean. They clearly liked each other.

He blinked as red blurred his vision at the edges. Sam reached up to wipe his eyes, frowning at the smear of blood across his hand when he pulled it away. It was getting worse. Whatever IT was.

"...Only makes you admit what you already think." He only caught the last part of what Cas was saying as he and Dean stepped out of the restaurant. "Curing the spell won't change what is true." 

"It'll make Sammy's face stop bleeding, though," Dean replied quietly. "And thinking it and doing it are different, Cas..."

They arrived at the car a minute later, and neither seemed to notice he could hear them before. Dean unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat, a bit of a blush making his freckles stand out more than usual. Having Cas whisper to you had that effect.

Dabbing the blood with his sleeve, Sam got into the car and closed the door. He flipped on the radio. Talking right now was just awkward.

He really had to wonder what the two of them had been talking about. The obvious conclusion would be the spell — but as far as he could find, they would just have to wait it out. Admitting what was true sounded familiar. Maybe Cas had figured out that Dean was in love with him — because he had something to confess.

Sam frowned as he realized that the exact same applied to him. That really wasn’t good.

He admired Castiel, sure. From the moment they met — he spent a good deal of time thinking about him. But it wasn’t in any romantic way. Cas was just fascinating. His views on the world, the way he did things that they had long considered to be routine — he took interest in everything.

Sam smiled a little, turning to look out of the window. He coughed as something suddenly tickled the back of his throat. Trying be subtle, Sam coughed into his hand a few times.

As he finally got rid of whatever it was, he stared down at his blood covered hand. There was something sitting on his palm — a shriveled rose petal.

Closing his hand, he glanced subtly at Dean to see if he noticed.

The music covered up the coughing, but Dean noticed the movement when he looked down at his hand. Catching sight of the blood, his brother frowned and glanced quickly from the road to him a few times. 

"Whoa — you okay?" He moved to pull the car over.

Cas leaned forward in his seat, trying to see as well. 

"What is it?"

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Sam said quickly. “J-just more of the eye bleeding stuff.” He added with a frown. He pulled the little napkin from his pocket and wiped the corners of his mouth. Ugh. Now Dean would start worrying about him.

"No, you coughed up something," Dean said pointedly, frowning at him. "You're getting worse."

"We should be focusing on this spell," Cas commented quietly from the back. "You shouldn't go on a hunt, Dean." 

“I’m fine.” Sam said again, scowling. He shoved the blood soaked napkin into his pocket again. “We’re right here. We might as well check it out. There’s no cure to this thing — we just need to wait it out.”

Dean leaned his arm on the steering wheel, turning in his seat. 

"Sam. You're bleeding, and it's only been a day. The blog didn't mention any side effects like that, either — I read it."

Sam sighed.

“It didn’t. But what do you want to do?” He shifted to glare at his brother. “There’s NO CURE. Are we just going to find a motel and wait until I die or what?”

Okay. That had sounded a little worse than he intended. He looked back to check on Cas.

The angel was staring right at him, and froze like he'd been caught in headlights. His gaze shifted down to Sam's mouth for a moment, then back to his eyes, brows furrowing in a troubled way. 

"Well, we can't just ignore it and hope it goes away," Dean grumbled from off to the side. "You said it lasts a MONTH, who knows how bad this'll get?"

“Fine. What do you want to do, Dean?” Sam grumbled, struggling to turn away from Cas’s gaze. God. Those eyes were so blue.

He'd expected his brother to be scowling at him, but Dean had noticed Cas's eyes, too, and was also distracted by them. 

"Maybe we should look for a spell that cancels other spells," Cas suggested seriously.

“I did.” Sam sighed. “I just didn’t think adding another spell to this one would do any good.” The brunette managed to sit back against his chair again. He dug out his cell phone and opened up the texts that he had sent himself. He had been focusing on spells that were similar — ones that used blood, roses or even flowers in general.

It was hard to find a spell that was to PROTECT against love. All the spells seemed focused on drawing love in.

“I found a few that might help,” he admitted. “We need to go to a flower shop.”

When Cas had spoken, it seemed to snap Dean out of his staring. Sam's brother shot him a somewhat guilty look and revved the engine, pulling them back out onto the road.

"That I can do."


	8. Thorns and Needles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little prickly, and Cas is right about the carnations.

The entire store was overwhelming as soon as they opened the door. It was full of brightly colored flowers and the strong pungent scent of sweetness. It provided stunning contrast to the stormy weather that had blown in along the way there.

Sammy seemed to know what he was looking for though. He headed straight for a big sign that read _‘Carnations 2 for $5.’_

Dean lingered in the doorway, watching his brother and doing his best not to stare at Castiel instead. Cas has apparently never been to a florist before, because he was looking around at all of the colorful flowers like they were something amazing. 

It was weird that he could be around for so long and not know about normal everyday stuff like this. Cas had said once that he liked bees, so maybe he'd only seen wildflowers in a big bunch like this. 

Aww, he was looking at the sunflowers... They kind of matched his trench coat. Why did he have to be so cute? 

There he went again. This was still really strange, being so fixated on Cas. It wasn't like he'd disliked the guy before, and the feelings now seemed very real, but it was like he couldn't push them aside or ignore them anymore.

Leaning against the wall near the door, he pulled out his cell phone and looked at it. Still had to come up with a good excuse for skipping out on this assignment...

“Oh my god,” he heard the florist remark. “Did you eat a rose? What the hell is wrong with you? You’re paying for that!”

“I-I — yeah,” Sam managed in return, adding another bill to the money on the counter. He took the little bunch of flowers and came over to where Dean was.

Dean was looking over at the florist dubiously, but turned to Sam when he stepped over. 

"Hey...did you find what you need?"

“Yeah, but we need to hurry. They’re supposed to be fresh,” Sam explained, smearing a bit of blood from around his mouth. He tucked the napkin away and sighed. He had a tiny potted cactus under one arm and three or four carnations in his hand. They were a mix of red, white and purple.

“I can’t promise that this isn’t going to make it worse. It wasn’t from her blog, but it’s still witchcraft.”

Dean nodded. 

"Still seems better than doing nothing." He lowered his voice, frowning and glancing over at Cas across the room. "And I don't wanna lose it and kiss Cas or something, especially not in front of anybody we know. We couldn't NOT hunt for a whole month, somebody would come after us."

"These aren't real," Cas was informing the store clerk solemnly, pointing out the rack of brightly dyed green, blue, and purple carnations near the register. "God never made blue carnations."

“Kiss him?” Sam said with a nervous gulp. He glanced at Cas and then quickly back to Dean. “That would be bad, yes. Let’s go.” He turned and called to the angel. “Come on Cas. We need to go.”

The florist smiled at Cas sweetly, ignoring Sam. 

“Your friend is like, super weird — but do you wanna grab a drink later? I get off at six,” she said with a wink. A flash of obvious jealousy showed on Sam's face.

“Cas,” he tried again, a bit louder. “We need to go.”

"I'm sorry, I can't," the angel told the clerk, placing the sunflower he'd been carrying around carefully back into its vase. "I have to go now." He turned so fast his trench coat flew out, and hurried back to the brothers.

Dean watched this, biting his lip. He'd made the mistake of thinking what kissing Cas might be like, and now it would probably bother him for awhile. Damn it.

Sam led Cas outside by the arm, frowning at the ground as they went. He dragged the angel along back to where the car was parked and then let go of him like he had caught fire or something. Sammy got in the car and shut the door. 

Wow. Someone was in a bad mood. 

Dean followed, pausing by the angel and patting his shoulder. 

"Just ignore him. He's in a pissy mood." That was an understatement. Dean was annoyed the florist thought Cas might go on a date with her, too, but Cas had turned her down, so they had nothing to worry about. 

That, and they weren't actually together, so why was he thinking of Cas flirting with anybody as cheating? Maybe Sam was in the same situation.

Cas moved to open the back door of the car, and Dean grabbed his hand to stop him. When those blue eyes turned to him uncertainly, he had to wrestle back the urge to kiss that hand.

"L-look, Cas...stay outside a sec, let me talk to him. Okay?" He was pretty sure his heart was trying to escape his chest. That idea of kissing the angel popped back to his mind without warning, and he hastily let go of his hand, taking two big steps back.

Castiel watched this unhappily. 

"Okay. I'll wait over there." He pointed to the nearby bus stop, and headed off that way without waiting for a reply.

Dean blinked after him. If he didn't know better, he'd think Cas's feelings were hurt. He turned and climbed into the car, closing the door after him. 

“What’s taking so long?” Sam looked over at him impatiently. “The older these flowers are, the less effective they are. We’re losing power by the minute.”

"Oh, sorry, I told Cas to wait outside so I can ask what the hell that was back there," Dean replied, scowling at him. "He didn't do anything, what're you being such a jerk for all of a sudden?"

Sam had plenty of reasons to be moody, and he knew it, but he surprised himself at how pissed off it made him to see Cas being snapped at. 

“What? I wasn’t…” Sam trailed off, thinking it over. He frowned. “Was I?” His little brother sat the flowers on the dash and then looked at him, eyebrows pinching. “Is he mad at me?” 

He sounded so sad at the thought.

Sammy turned to look out the window. It was starting to rain harder again, and big drops were rolling down the glass. “Is he okay?”

Dean sighed, feeling the anger drain out of him. Right. Spell, they were just acting on whatever emotion came to the surface right now. 

"He's okay. A little confused, but I guess that's all of us right now," he grumbled. "Where are we going for this spell? Is it close enough to get to in time?"

“We just need somewhere to set up a circle and mix things.” Sam strapped himself in and sank back in the seat. “Why am I the only one crying blood? You slept too, and the spell is obviously working,” he wondered aloud.

"Good question," Dean said, looking at him worriedly now. "Maybe it's the whole demon blood thing?" He'd thought they were done with that, but maybe...

Rolling down his window, he waved for Cas to come back to the car. "Hey, Cas, c'mon! We've gotta go," he called.

“I don’t think so.” Sam said quietly, keeping his eyes on the dash. He picked the flowers up again and hugged the little cactus. It had a tiny pink flower on top of it. Sam swallowed and glanced at where Cas had gone. “D-did he get soaked?”

"Hot damn," Dean mumbled, watching the angel step back over to the car. Cas had been out in the rain for only a few minutes, but his hair and coat were soaked almost all the way through already.

The wind swished his coat out to the side, and his eyes somehow looked even more blue with his dark hair plastered down to his forehead from the rain. He stepped back over to the car, and silently climbed into the back seat.

Sammy stared at Cas through the rear view mirror silently, cheeks darkening. He apparently didn’t have anything to say, but it was clear he agreed with Dean’s thoughts.

The angel didn't look at either of them, and seemed to be waiting for somebody else to talk before he said anything. He wiped wet bangs away from his forehead and strapped his seat belt. 

"It's all good, Cas — we're gonna go find a warehouse or something so we can set up the spell," Dean filled in for him, unable to stop the goofy little smile on his face. Cas really did look like an angel, even his human vessel. God he was gorgeous. Stunning. 

"Maybe we can find you some dry clothes, too," he added, and immediately regretted it. Cas in different clothes meant, at some point, Cas had to have NO clothes...

“Yeah,” Sam agreed heartily, reaching around the seat to offer Castiel the cactus. “Can you please hold this? I need to check my phone. Please be careful — we need the flower.”

Cas took the cactus from him, holding it carefully with both hands and blinking like he hadn't expected this at all. He watched Sam uncertainly. 

"You aren't angry anymore," he said, sounding like he wasn't very sure of it.

Dean glanced back at him, mostly just to enjoy the view, and nodded. 

"We talked, it's cool. You're soaked, aren't you cold?"

Cas glanced at him, still uncertain. 

"..."

“I’m sorry for yelling at you — I really love you,” Sam said, quickly leaning back into his seat to shrink down in embarrassment. “We need to cast the spell soon or the flowers won’t work for it.”

Cas sat up in his seat straighter, still holding the cactus very carefully. 

"How can I help?"

Dean pulled the car out onto the road again, looking for any warehouses or other big buildings people weren't likely to be in right now. The rain was musical on the Impala's metal roof, and made it tough to see much besides lights in the distance. 

The sun was heading for the horizon, fast, and he remembered them checking out of the motel around noon.

“It’s a lot like the other spell. I had to take some liberties with the chant and the ritual, but the core pieces are still there.” Sam pulled out his phone and tapped at it. “It’s sort of a reverse of the other one. It’s supposed to protect you from love spells and their effects.”

Dean couldn't see Cas from the front seat, but he heard him say, "Do you cast it on me, as you did with the first one, then?"

That looked like a warehouse up there...no, even better. An old, condemned apartment building. Not a single light on, and it wasn't likely to have security systems like warehouses. 

He pulled the Impala over to park around the back.

“It’s—” Sammy gagged suddenly, slapping a hand over his mouth. He coughed raggedly and crawled out of the car. 

"Sam!" Dean hopped out of the car, hurrying around to his side. Damn it, he'd seen this before. Witch spells ended nasty, but that kind usually needed hex bags. The spell was cast with HIS blood, why was it hitting Sam instead?


	9. Up In Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here goes more witchcraft.

Sam was shaking as he pulled what looked like a thorn covered stem out of his mouth. He stared at it for a moment, blood dribbling down his chin.

“It was just petals before,” he breathed, turning the stem over in his fingers. He looked at Dean worriedly. “Why aren’t you affected? It was your blood. You said the chants too — I don't get it.”

"Me, neither, but it's pissing me off!" Dean said, scowling at the rose stem. He put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Come on, let's get this circle drawn so we can get you fixed up." 

"Is he okay?" Cas was standing close behind them, looking at Sam in concern. The rain was promptly wetting his hair and coat back down — soaking Sam and Dean, too, actually. The angel was shielding the tiny cactus with his trench coat to keep it from being battered by raindrops.

Sam didn’t reply. He set out ahead and tugged the door open — flinging the bloodied stem on the ground on the way. Dropping the flowers on an old trash can, he set about etching the circle on the floor with a grease pen. He seemed very determined not to look at Cas.

He worked slowly, scratching a massive pentagram in the center.

As Dean recalled, the last spell didn’t take anything like that. It had two roses, some chanting and some blood. This seemed a little more involved. He stepped inside after Cas, clicking on a little penlight from his pocket and pulling the door closed behind them just in case somebody saw lights in the old abandoned building. 

It was very cold in there, especially since the floor in the apartment lobby was tiled. There were some broken windows somewhere, because the storm was still pretty loud.

Castiel stepped over near Sam and placed the little cactus very carefully on the trash can beside the other flowers. He turned to watch what Sam was drawing.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

“I need the brass bowl from the trunk.” Sam got up, carefully not looking at Cas as he passed. He started plucking the petals off of the carnations, dropping them into a little pile on top of the trash can. "And the cinnamon."

Cas turned toward the door, but Dean was already most of the way there. 

Leaving his penlight on the floor to shine out into the room, he called, "I'll get 'em," and headed out to the car as quick as he could. It only took a moment to gather the bowl and cinnamon from the trunk, but that felt like too long. Were the flowers still good for this? Did he sabotage them by getting all protective of Cas earlier?

Sam met him at the door, taking the bowl out of his hands.

“Thanks.” He went over and raked the petals into the bowl, already whispering under his breath. “ _Is crimina in corde suo. Invoco te. Amoris expellas._ ”

He sprinkled cinnamon over the bowl, drawing a knife from his pocket.

Castiel stayed just outside the big pentagram and watched this solemnly. He did frown at whatever Sam was saying in Latin, though. Dean closed the door again and brought the light closer to the circle.

"Do you need my blood again?"

“No,” his brother said firmly. Slicing down his index finger to the base of his thumb, then straight across his palm — Sammy squeezed his eyes closed and focused.

“ _Fero sanguine rosas. Contere nunc._ ” He dropped blood into the bowl, cutting the tiny pink cactus flower off and adding it to the mix. “ _Invoco te. Protege me a caritate._ ” He stirred it slowly, eyes still closed. The bowl began to smoke. First gray, then white smoke. It twisted unnaturally in the air, looping around Sam like the coils of a snake.

Dean took a small step back, watching the smoke carefully. This didn't seem like a good idea, but if it stopped Sam from coughing up rose thorns, it was for the best. 

Cas looked even less happy about this round of chanting than the last. Just what was Sam saying, anyway?

The smoke suddenly spun in the air, returning to the bowl in a splash. Sam opened his eyes and lifted the bowl. He was shaking again, the cut on his hand dripping. Tipping the bowl up — he drank it. He sat the bowl down again and blinked.

“Um,” he said slowly, sitting up and looking at Dean.

Dean stepped closer, holding out a hand as he did. 

"Oookay...was that how it was supposed to go?"

“I think so,” Sam said. He picked up the bowl and offered it to Dean. “Here.” Suddenly he gasped sharply, though. Half dumping the bowl back on the table, he doubled over. “W-wait.”

"Sammy, damn it..." Dean quickly moved over and took the bowl from him, putting it on the table. In the time that took, Cas arrived at Sam's other side. When Dean turned back to them, he saw that the angel had placed a hand on his brother's back. 

"Dean, perhaps you have to finish the spell for him."

Sam turned around in one smooth motion, wrapping an arm over Cas’s shoulder. He pressed against the angel, leaving a bloody hand print on the scruffy man’s cheek as he pulled him in for a kiss. 

But just as their lips touched — Sam leaned back. He stumbled away backwards and held up his hands.

“Okay. Okay, I think it worked.” He turned dizzily back and offered Dean the bowl. “Drink it.” Sammy looked horrible. His skin had gone pale, which just made the blood around his mouth look even more gruesome. He shoved the bowl at Dean. "Hurry up."

Dean took the bowl, momentarily distracted by the way his heart started racing when Cas almost got kissed. That really messed with him — alarmingly so. 

The angel was stepping after Sam, glancing at Dean as he went. 

"Dean, you should hurry." He didn't put a hand on Sam's back again, but stood close by his side. 

Trying not to look down into the bowl, Dean raised it to his mouth and drank the contents as quickly as he could. The flower petals weren't exactly smooth going down, and the whole thing tasted overwhelmingly like just plain blood. He coughed and dropped the bowl on the floor, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 

"Ugh...i-is that it?"

Sam nodded. He looked back at Cas, blinking hard.

“I…don’t know if it worked or not.” He looked back at Dean and blushed. “Cas is still really hot to me.” He licked his lips nervously. “Maybe we have to sleep like the first one?”

"Never mind Cas for a sec," Dean said, still trying to wipe the blood off of his mouth. Ugh, indeed. "Are ya still coughing up roses and crying blood or what?" 

Despite his own words, he sneaked a glance at the angel. Yep, still attractive as ever. Cas had a bloody hand print on one side of his face, and somehow even that looked hot.

“I don’t know. Maybe the effects aren’t instant,” Sammy said hopefully with a shrug. He looked at Cas too. It took a few seconds, but he suddenly seemed to remember that his hand was bleeding and wrapped it in the already-bloody napkin that he had in his pocket. 

Cas stepped up closer and reached for his hand. 

"Sam. I can help with that, at least."

Dean was still waiting for any other after effects of the spell. Unlike Sam, he hadn't had any stomach pain after drinking from the bowl. Why not?

Sam flinched at Cas’s touch, but he didn’t pull away. He looked at the angel, expression growing almost sad. But then he forced a smile.

“Hey. I think it worked. Sorry — about your cheek. Uh, and almost kissing you.” He added quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Dean wasn't so sure the spell was broken yet. Cas already looked gorgeous all wet from the rain — then he took Sam's bleeding hand in his, closed his eyes, and there was a flash of bright light as Sam was healed. 

That wasn't what got Dean, though. When the healing was done, the angel opened his eyes again, squeezed Sam's hand, and smiled at him. It was dazzling.

"It's okay."

But Sammy pulled his hand away, turning and making himself busy grabbing the bowl and cactus.

“H-how are you feeling, Dean? Any change?” He asked nervously as he circled to put Dean between him and Cas.

"Uh...good!" Dean said quickly, glancing between him and Cas. "You sure it worked? Cas's still all..." He gestured to the angel, then realized he didn't actually want to state it outright. "Still all, uh, bloody. Cas, you've got a little something on your face." He gestured to his own face to demonstrate.

Castiel blinked and wiped at his cheek with his hand, looking down at the blood.

“Really?” Sam sounded surprised. He sat the stuff back down and turned Dean by the shoulders to be face to face with Cas. “Are you sure?”

Dean shot his brother a droll look. 

"You just said he's still 'really hot' to you. Doesn't sound like you, Sammy." Sounded a bit like Dean's inner thoughts at the moment, though. Something definitely HAD changed — he no longer felt like he couldn't get within arms' reach of Castiel without trying to kiss him or touch his hair. He was still thinking it, though...

"Maybe there is something I have to do," Cas suggested, watching them uncertainly. 

“Sleep?” Sam sighed, letting go of Dean to retrieve the bowl and cactus once more. “You can’t. But we can — this spell is based on the other one. Maybe if we sleep, it’ll take effect.” He frowned and started toward the door. “It’s not really a cure though. It’s kind of a…counter spell. It’s supposed to prevent, um, lust.” 

Cas looked at him for a long moment.

"Oh." 

"C'mon, Cas, let's get back to the motel and find some dry clothes," Dean said, waving for the angel to follow as he started for the door. At least now having Cas change clothes wasn't dangerous for his heart rate. He didn't think.


	10. Honesty, Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No spells to blame this time.

Even after brushing his teeth last night, Sam’s mouth tasted vaguely like blood when he woke up. Rolling his head to check on the other two, he noticed someone laying beside him on the bed.

It was Dean, sprawled flat on his stomach with his face half-buried in the pillow. He was wearing a fluffy-looking white bathrobe, and was snoring softly. 

"Good morning, Sam," Castiel greeted him from across the room. Since the angel didn't sleep, he'd let the brothers have the bed — Sam remembered that much from the night before. That, and a pretty awkward time of changing out of wet clothes.

Blushing at the thoughts he had at the time, he looked at Cas — and his heart sank.

He was still handsome. Even with his rain-tousled hair and usual scruff. The spell had definitely worked, so why?

Sam crawled out of bed, trying not to disturb Dean. The snoring was well-earned. He stepped over to where Cas was, tucking his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants.

“Hey Cas,” he said awkwardly. 

The angel turned to him and smiled. Dean had called dibs on the bath robe last night, and they’d insisted the wet clothes were hung up to dry, so Cas had wound up borrowing Dean’s pajamas. They were a little too big, and it just made him look even more attractively disheveled. 

"How are you feeling? You aren't so pale today."

“Better. I think,” Sam said. He couldn’t decide if Cas was sexy or not. Those were Dean’s pajamas… He moved closer to the angel, lowering his voice. Dean was still snoring, so it was safe to talk. “You said earlier that you didn’t know.” Sam whispered, glancing to check on his brother anyway.

Following his gaze, Cas admitted quietly, "Talking with you helped with that somewhat."

He fidgeted with one of the sleeves of the pajama shirt.

“So?” Sam pressed, looking him in the eye. Those damn beautiful blue eyes. Why couldn’t Cas inhabit some grisly ugly old man or something?

The angel stared back seriously, searching his eyes for something. 

"Sam," he said finally, almost guiltily. "I've been thinking about what you said. That one day you realize you don't ever want to...be without someone." He broke the stare finally, focusing on the plaid patterned shoulder of Sam's pajama shirt. "..."

“And?” Sam whispered, dropping his gaze to the floor. This was it. And even with how damn attractive Cas still was to him, he was going to smile and tell them he was happy for them. That was the plan from the start — to help Cas and Dean fall in love.

He swallowed down whatever tears he had and gave the angel a tight hug.

“I’m happy for you guys. I sort of saw this coming. Just take care of my brother. Please.”

"Sam. No," Cas said sadly, muffled by his shirt. Sam was quite a bit taller than him. He felt the angel hug him in return, though, patting his back. "It's you." 

“M-me?” Sam stammered. He sat back and looked down at Cas in shock. “How can it be me?”

No. He couldn’t be wrong! The way Cas looked at Dean. The way they always teamed up without him all the time. The little smirks and life lessons… Cas didn’t even listen half the time when Sam prayed!

Maybe it was just Dean, he realized sadly. He hadn’t even thought of that possibility. 

Castiel placed his hands on both of Sam's shoulders, looking up at him seriously. 

"Please, hear me out. It's you — both of you. Dean too. The thought that one day, you will both be gone..." He looked down, brows pinching sadly.

Sam couldn’t stop staring at him. Both of them? He turned away to look at Dean. Did that mean it was up to them to decide who ended up with Cas? If he loved them both and they both loved him, there was no way around creating an awkward third wheel with hurt feelings. Dean didn’t know that Sam loved Cas even after the spell last night. Actually, neither did the angel. If he played his cards right…

He turned back to Cas, summoning up all his courage.

“I…”

The angel quickly looked at him again, his blue eyes full of...actually, a surprising amount of fear. He must have truly cared how Sam felt about all of this, because he looked like his heart was in his throat. 

"I-I know that isn't acceptable. I'm supposed to choose. But I can't," he said, trying to explain.

Staring into those sad blue eyes broke Sam’s heart. There was no way he could straight-out lie and say that he didn’t have feelings for the angelic man.

But if he said anything, it might ruin Dean’s chance… 

Sam took a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry. I think Dean needs you more than me,” he said quietly, keeping his gaze locked on the floor.

Cas was not making this easy. He turned Sam's face toward him again, looking at him earnestly. 

"But you do need me, too. Don't you?"

“I…” Sam grabbed his hand and was going to stepped back from him, but something stopped him. “Yes,” he breathed, fighting the urge to give in and kiss the angel on the spot. “But I won’t do that to Dean. I know that he has feelings for you, Cas.”

There was the guilty look again. Cas stared him down, and those blue eyes were so sad that it hurt. He moved his hand away from Sam's face at last.

"Then...I can't be with Dean, either."

“Why not? If you’re worried about me…” Sam said quickly, looping an arm around Cas’s back. There was no way he was going to let the angel just vanish.

Rather than try to fly away, Cas turned toward him and hugged an arm around his neck. 

It put their faces right next to each other, and he looked up at the taller man, whispering, "Because I don't know how to love one of you less than the other. I-I should go."

“Don’t,” Sam managed as he pulled Castiel against him, kissing those lips like he been wanting to for so long. He expected something awkward — but it felt like heaven. The angel’s lips were soft and very kissable. 

Breaking away suddenly, Sam tried not to meet Cas’s gaze. He felt guilty and dazed — like he had just shoved Dean into danger without warning. Cas had always watched over his big brother, not him. It felt like betrayal. He just prayed that the guilt didn't show on his face. It wasn't Castiel's fault.

Cas said nothing for a moment, but Sam could feel that intent stare on him. Then his face was turned back toward the angel just like before, and they had to see the guilt in each other's eyes. Cas had the faintest flush to his cheeks, but he looked like he felt terrible for enjoying the kiss. Well, that made two of them. 

"We should talk to Dean," he said heavily. "Tell him the truth."

Sam nodded heartily. It took every bit of willpower he had to move away from the angel. He stopped by the bed, looking down at Dean sleeping guiltily. They should have woke him up first before any part of that conversation had taken place.

He grabbed Dean’s shoulder and shook him gently.

“Dean, wake up.”

"Huh?" His brother rolled onto his side, blinking sleepily at him. "Sammy. What's going on...?" Either Sam was visibly upset, or he sounded like it. When Dean sighted Castiel stepping up beside Sam looking guilty, he sat up on the bed. "Okay...what is it?"

Sam sat down beside him. He knew exactly what he had to say. How was he supposed to start the conversation? He looked up at Cas for help, fighting to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I, uh…we…Cas is in love with both of us,” he blurted out. Wringing his hands together, he dropped his head. He didn’t want to see the look on Dean’s face.

He didn't need to, it turned out — the "What?" implied a weirded out look with his tone alone. 

"It's true," Castiel said, stepping up beside the bed as well. Sam could easily see the sad blue eyes and troubled, furrowed brow in his mind. "I'm sorry...I thought on this all night, and I'm certain that I love you and Sam."

"You — whoa, wait, what? Slow down, when we went to bed everybody was single," Dean grumbled — perhaps a little overly grumbly, actually. Sounded like he was covering something up. Before either of them could reply, he added suspiciously, “Maybe the spell just finally hit you, Cas.”

“I d-didn’t think of that.” Sam sat up to look at Cas as well. Was that possible? They'd cast the second spell on him and Dean, not Cas — but the angel couldn't sleep, so the first spell shouldn't have been there to cancel out for him. Still, Sam should have thought of that before admitting that he liked Castiel back. He glanced at Dean and cleared his throat.

The angel averted his eyes, blushing faintly.

"I didn't fall asleep," he promised them. 

Dean sat up and ran a hand through his hair, glancing between Cas and Sam tiredly. 

"So...what? You guys have this whole conversation and THEN wake me up? What'd I miss?"

Sam shifted away from his brother, cringing. Yes. He had sort of thought the same thing. Should they admit to kissing? Dean was probably going to find out anyway…

He looked at Cas and frowned. Finally, he turned back to his brother and braced himself.

“Just…Just tell me if you still feel anything for Cas.”


	11. Waffles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then there's Dean.

Dean frowned and looked at Castiel, whose blue eyes were fixed hopefully on him as well. He looked just as anxious about what Dean said as he had been about Sam before. 

"I...uh..."

Was Sam breathing? He wasn’t sure — but he couldn’t take it if Dean said no. It would crush Cas. He felt helpless again, but this time it wasn’t anything about what HE might do.

What if he had been wrong like he suspected before? What if Dean just thought of Castiel as his best angel buddy and nothing more?

He reached out and put a hand on Dean’s back. Sam wanted to say something — beg Dean not to hurt Cas — but it wasn’t his call. They had to sort it out, not him.

Dean glanced at him quickly, then looked back to the angel in front of him. He took a deep breath. 

"Cas, listen. Sit down a sec." He patted the bed beside him opposite Sam, sighing. 

Castiel stepped over and sat on the edge of the bed beside him, looking at the floor at their feet. Sam saw he’d also borrowed Dean’s stupid cartoon print socks, and even those looked great on him. How?

Dean took one of the angel’s hands, and Cas glanced quickly back at him.

"You're really, really important to me," Dean said, smiling at him. "And I know you don't want to break any hearts, here. But if you're worried about me and Sammy and this spell thing, you don't have to lie and say you love us. It's still messing with my head, but I think we'll be okay."

"I kissed Sam," Cas told him guiltily. "I am not lying, Dean. I...I love you. Both of you." He looked down at their hands sadly.

Sam bit his tongue in surprise, weaving his fingers together. God this was painful to watch. Maybe it would have been better if it was just the spell. He was pretty sure it wasn’t, though, and Dean was just in denial. 

“I kissed HIM,” he admitted heavily, straightening up again to see how Cas was holding up. “I’m sorry.”

Cas glanced quickly at him, wide-eyed. Abruptly, as if to pull Dean's focus off of Sam, he tugged his hand out of the taller man's grip. 

"If...if you love me, Dean, please tell me. And if you don't, I won't try to convince you," he said heavily. It almost sounded like there was a lump in his throat. 

Dean caught it, too, and a whole parade of emotions played across his face in just a moment or two. Surprise. Concern. Guilt?

"I do," he said quickly. "Yeah, I-I do." Taking a deep breath, he added quickly, "But, Sammy loves you, Cas, and you can't have us both."

“But—” Sam cut himself off. No. That just wasn’t even a possibility. He had resigned himself to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t sit there while Dean tried to lie that he didn’t want to be with Cas. “Dean,” he said, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I think you two should be together.”

"He kissed you, Sammy." Dean turned to him and patted his shoulder in return, mustering a sad smile. "I'd say that means he's with you." He got up and stepped quickly away from the bed before anybody could reply, running a hand through his hair. 

Cas glanced at Sam, then got off the bed and followed Dean.

“Why can’t we both be with him?” Sam said, standing up as well. He couldn’t believe what he was about to fight for. “Jeez, it’s not like our life isn’t weird to begin with. You heard him — he LOVES you. It’s not the stupid love spell talking. How am I supposed to be with him while I know that BOTH of you like each other? I won't do it,” he said at last. "I can't do that to either of you!"

"We can't do that, come on..." Dean sighed and turned back to both of them, gesturing to Castiel — who had stopped in his tracks when Sam spoke up, and was watching them both uncertainly. "He doesn't love me, he loves US. Believe it or not, I think you're better for him than I am!"

"I won't do it, either," Cas spoke up, frowning. "I won't be with only Sam. Or only you," he added more quietly.

Sam held his ground and nodded. Clearly Cas felt the same way.

“I guess we’ll all be miserable and alone then,” he concluded sarcastically, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants.

"Hey, this isn't a joke." Dean pointed at him, frowning. "This doesn't WORK long-term, Sam. Sooner or later, somebody'll get jealous, and I don't want you to hate me."

“I won’t hate you, Dean. I-I…” Sam’s words caught in his throat, but he tried again. “I l-love Cas, too.” Why was it so much harder to say that now? “Just think about what we’ve been through over the years — we don’t hate each other from all that.” 

Dean gave him a pained look. There were sure a few times over the years they had put their ties to the test. He was about to reply when Cas stepped up beside him and took his hand, snapping his attention away. 

When Dean looked at him, the angel took his other hand as well, holding both of them. 

"Dean. I love you both," he said earnestly. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt either of you."

Sam sat back on the bed. If this really happened, they were going to cross over into very strange territory — even for the Winchesters.

The strangest part was that he was okay with it. He had to be. They loved Cas and he loved them. They couldn't let him leave and just forget this happened — not after this conversation.

Even as stubborn as Dean was, there wasn't much anybody could do to defend against Cas's blue eyes gazing up at them so earnestly. Sam's brother looked at the angel longingly, but he still shook his head.

"Cas, it's not that easy..."

Castiel seemed to think that it was, because he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Dean's lips. Dean didn't exactly object, either — he kissed back. Maybe he thought that was the only kiss he'd ever get from the angel, so it better be a good one.

Blushing, Sam looked away. It was very surreal to see them kiss. Maybe they could just not kiss Cas when around each other? Dean was right. It was going to be difficult to juggle. He supposed that they’d have to learn to play musical third-wheel. 

He glanced back at them. Dean would have to go through the same thing any time Sam kissed Cas, too. God. What a mess.

"I'm sorry..." The angel had his arms around Dean, who was looking really, truly flustered and holding around his waist in return. "I need you to understand that I am not just saying this."

"Message received," Dean told him, smiling sheepishly. His cheeks were flushed, and the freckles stood out even across the room. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hey, uh, let's go talk to Sam." 

Cas nodded and quickly led him back to his brother by the hand. 

“No, no. That’s okay!” Sam said awkwardly, jumping to his feet and circling backward around the bed. “I’ll g-go wait in the car!”

Dean let go of Castiel's hand and cleared his throat again, trying not to look so affected by the kiss still. 

"Sammy, just...don't, okay? This's weird, but at least it's the good kind of weird for once," he pointed out, shrugging. "You were right when you said we don't exactly live normally, anyway." 

“Okay...” Sam came back over cautiously, trying to breath deeply. He’d thought that he was ready for the weird. Not even close. Was it okay to take Cas’s hand, or was he in ‘Dean-mode?’ His head was swirling with wacky and stupid questions.

“But we can’t count kisses.” He looked at his brother very seriously, face glowing. “I know you’re the jealous type.”

Awkwardly, Dean gestured to the angel beside him. 

"He'd be sad if you didn't kiss him. I don't want that," he reasoned. Glancing at the subject of their affection, he added uncertainly, "Right, Cas?"

Sam found those bright blue eyes set on him again. 

"Yes, that's right." 

“Same.” Sam stepped up to give Dean a one armed hug. He gave his brother a quick smile and turned to Cas. Taking one of the angel’s hands in his, he felt like maybe he was still asleep. But he couldn't dream up this kind of thing. Sam leaned in and kissed the angel’s cheek. “I think I already said this back in the car, but I really love you.”

Dean smiled at them, though he still didn't look entirely sure what he was supposed to do here. Sam was distracted from whatever else he did when their angel turned and hugged him. 

"You did, but now you said it without the spell. Thank you for stopping me when I was going to leave."

Dean shot Sam a look at that, raising an eyebrow. Sam hugged Cas in return, giving his brother a worried look. What was bothering him? Dean just said that he didn’t have a problem with Sam kissing Cas.

Maybe it was the comment about leaving. Nobody had mentioned that part to Dean. Whatever it was, he let it go easily enough. Smirking slightly at Sam, he leaned over and kissed Cas's cheek, too. 

"Sooo, who wants breakfast? I'm thinking...hmmm...waffles." 

Cas sat back from hugging Sam, offering Dean a smile before doing an abrupt U-turn and hurrying off to the bathroom. 

"I'll get my coat..."

“Good idea.” Sam watched him go, turning to Dean. He tucked his hands into his pockets and stared at his brother. “This is weird.”

Dean had crossed his arms, and waited until Cas closed the bathroom door before meeting his eyes. 

"Really weird," he agreed, offering a small apologetic smile. "I'm probably gonna regret it later, but hey, for now everybody's happy."

“Yeah.” Sam looked at him from under his eyebrows, judging his expression. “You’re seriously okay with this? I thought you’d throw more of a fit.”

His brother looked around their room — at the big bed, the cluttered bedstands, and the backpacks piled in one corner. The smile softened, and he didn't look sorry anymore. 

"I can't trust anybody else with either of you," he admitted, looking at Sam again. "And I couldn't lie to him, Sammy. I couldn't hurt him. You get it, you feel the same way."

“Yeah.” Sam nodded. He smiled too. Out of all the people they had met since they started cruising around in the Impala, there really wasn’t anyone else he trusted to take care of Dean. Or to take care of Cas. They needed each other, and if it took Sam to keep them together — that’s what he’d do. Not that he had any objections. 

Right when he met Cas, he’d known his life would never be the same again. Come Heaven or Hell, the three of them were going to face it together. He stepped up and gave his brother a real hug.

Dean hugged him warmly, patting his back. 

"So, about those waffles..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END. We hope you've enjoyed reading our first weird, fluffy Supernatural fanfic! (Probably the first of many; weird and fluffy seems to be our thing.) Every fic is an opportunity to possibly make the ships go in a different direction, so just because this one went for Sastiel AND Destiel (but not Wincestiel) (this really needs a ship name) (does anybody know the ship name for this?) does not mean they all will. Variety is the spice of life. ;) Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

**Author's Note:**

> This is co-written by my sister BeingCouy and I, and is our first-ever Supernatural fanfic. Apologies for silliness and OOCness. I'm sure this fandom has seen it all at this point!


End file.
